That just makes the story even more amazing: that they have so much size, money, and power in the marketplace - and leading research at their fingertips - yet

That just makes the story even more amazing: that they have so much size, money, and power in the marketplace - and leading research at their fingertips - yet the research doesn't seem to be translating into compelling products. I've long been teased by the promise of Intentional Programming, Singularity, or Volta - but nothing ever emerges that advances the state of the art.