Indeed, if you look at the very earliest Nobel prizes they were less focused on basic research. For example, the 1909 Physics prize to Marconi/Braun "in recogni

Indeed, if you look at the very earliest Nobel prizes they were less focused on basic research. For example, the 1909 Physics prize to Marconi/Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy" or the 1912 Physics prize to Gustaf Dalen "for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys".