3 ms·

There is no higher value free market alternative to academic research. This does not exist. Publication is a different issue altogether. What do you have in mi

by pekk 14y ago

There is no higher value free market alternative to academic research. This does not exist. Publication is a different issue altogether. What do you have in mind - huge companies like Microsoft trying things and occasionally letting out crumbs? People blogging their speculations about the cause of autism? The problem with depending 100% on non-academic research is that either real information is not being produced in a rigorous way, or that details like methods are not published so it's reproducible, or that the key stuff is withheld for business purposes.

burntsushi 14y ago
Perhaps you have not heard of Microsoft Research. [1] [1] -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research
- Q6T46nT668w6i3m 14y ago
  I took a random sample of 25 papers from: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&sb=no&ps=25&t=publications&sf=&s=&r=&vr=&ra= http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&... 68% of the authors hold academic positions.
  - irollboozers 14y ago
    Many of those academic positions are just for show, so that another university can't lay claim on them. University of Washington has many 'sponsored' positions, but basically what it amounts to is Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft giving money in exchange for that researcher's time. Latest example would be Babak Parviz, EE prof who spends all time at Google (http://news.cs.washington.edu/2013/01/26/babak-parviz-on-google-glass-200-on-february-1-cse-403/ http://news.cs.washington.edu/2013/01/26/babak-parviz-on-goo...)
    - Q6T46nT668w6i3m 14y ago
      I just checked. Most had verifiable course loads (i.e. personal websites with course information).
- stephenhuey 14y ago
  And perhaps he has, but this seems to be an outlier, and Microsoft is collaborating with researchers in numerous academic institutions. If those no longer existed, and thus Microsoft Research was no longer collaborating with academic institutions, would Microsoft Research continue to share reproducible results of their work with the public? We can only speculate at this point, but I'd find it hard to believe that the free market would share as much.
- _delirium 14y ago
  If there were many more MSRs, in many more areas of research, I could see them being a viable replacement. But there aren't, and I'm not sure how we'll get there. What would it take to get a few dozen more companies to fund an MSR-sized research lab, and in other fields besides CS? Better yet, something broader, like the old Bell Labs? I just don't see it happening.

by pekk 14y ago

burntsushi 14y ago

Perhaps you have not heard of Microsoft Research. [1] [1] -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research

Q6T46nT668w6i3m 14y ago
I took a random sample of 25 papers from: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&sb=no&ps=25&t=publications&sf=&s=&r=&vr=&ra= http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&... 68% of the authors hold academic positions.
- irollboozers 14y ago
  Many of those academic positions are just for show, so that another university can't lay claim on them. University of Washington has many 'sponsored' positions, but basically what it amounts to is Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft giving money in exchange for that researcher's time. Latest example would be Babak Parviz, EE prof who spends all time at Google (http://news.cs.washington.edu/2013/01/26/babak-parviz-on-google-glass-200-on-february-1-cse-403/ http://news.cs.washington.edu/2013/01/26/babak-parviz-on-goo...)
  - Q6T46nT668w6i3m 14y ago
    I just checked. Most had verifiable course loads (i.e. personal websites with course information).
stephenhuey 14y ago
And perhaps he has, but this seems to be an outlier, and Microsoft is collaborating with researchers in numerous academic institutions. If those no longer existed, and thus Microsoft Research was no longer collaborating with academic institutions, would Microsoft Research continue to share reproducible results of their work with the public? We can only speculate at this point, but I'd find it hard to believe that the free market would share as much.
_delirium 14y ago
If there were many more MSRs, in many more areas of research, I could see them being a viable replacement. But there aren't, and I'm not sure how we'll get there. What would it take to get a few dozen more companies to fund an MSR-sized research lab, and in other fields besides CS? Better yet, something broader, like the old Bell Labs? I just don't see it happening.