4 ms·

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the first time ever a Microsoft Research lab is being closed? It reflects a lot on how the new CEO Nadella views

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the first time ever a Microsoft Research lab is being closed? It reflects a lot on how the new CEO Nadella views fundamental (academic) research in his priority list. Though this may be the right move for MSFT shareholders, this is certainly a backward step for computer science research as a whole. MSR is the last remaining industry lab which focuses on pure academic research, and I hope MSR remains.

brwnll 12y ago
I disagree with this statement. Contrarily, closing the Valley location could be an indicator Nadella holds a high value on the other world wide locations. If your hope is to attract top global talent to work on global issues, having two labs nearly on top of each other in Santa Barbara and the Valley doesn't make much since. Current lab locations: Redmond, WA; Cambridge, UK; Beijing, China; Munich, Germany; Bangalore, India; Santa Barbara, CA; Cairo, Egypt; Herzelia, Isreal.
- AceJohnny2 12y ago
  > having two labs nearly on top of each other in Santa Barbara and the Valley doesn't make much sense. I think you may be confusing Santa Barbara, which is close to Los Angeles and approximately 5 hours drive from the Valley, with the closer Santa Clara, which is in the Valley, or Santa Cruz, which is about an hour south of the Valley.
  - jhenkens 12y ago
    I'm just starting my sixth year at UCSB (undergrad + MS), and I never knew about this, but apparently there is an MSR office inside of UCSB's campus! http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/stationq/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/stationq/ That said, I wasn't sure if your comment was saying they were just confused at to where Santa Barbara is located, or if there was only labs in Santa Clara, not in Santa Barbara. That said, I find it very strange to close the SV MSR office. Lot's of California-only folks who don't want to move to the tourist-city of SB/don't fit into the MSR-StationQ at UCSB now are off the market.
  - thetrb 12y ago
    If you look at labs distributed world-wide then a 5 hour drive is really not that much.
    - AceJohnny2 12y ago
      Yeah, I was wondering if the parent meant this. However, the Silicon Valley is arguably the highest concentration of CS talent in the world, and the researchers from the closed office may not want to move to Seattle when they can easily get good offers from the likes of Google/FB/Dropbox!
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    "Right on top of" really isn't particularly accurate. Though it's interesting to note that both locales have exceptionally high costs of living. For general amenity, I might prefer Santa Barbara to Mountain View, but you're sacrificing some cultural access in the process. Los Angeles isn't too far away, but the traffic is absolute murder.
- twoodfin 12y ago
  Don't forget NERD in Cambridge, MA.
- ZanyProgrammer 12y ago
  Santa Barbara is a whole other cultural world than Silicon Valley. Its like comparing LA with the Bay Area. Maybe on a global scale they are close, but I think Silicon Valley is too important to really abandon like that. We all mock and make fun of the Valley but I don't think MSFT can really abandon Valley mindshare.
- mturmon 12y ago
  The Santa Barbara outpost is rather peculiar because it's devoted exclusively to quantum computing.

brwnll 12y ago

I disagree with this statement. Contrarily, closing the Valley location could be an indicator Nadella holds a high value on the other world wide locations. If your hope is to attract top global talent to work on global issues, having two labs nearly on top of each other in Santa Barbara and the Valley doesn't make much since. Current lab locations: Redmond, WA; Cambridge, UK; Beijing, China; Munich, Germany; Bangalore, India; Santa Barbara, CA; Cairo, Egypt; Herzelia, Isreal.

AceJohnny2 12y ago
> having two labs nearly on top of each other in Santa Barbara and the Valley doesn't make much sense. I think you may be confusing Santa Barbara, which is close to Los Angeles and approximately 5 hours drive from the Valley, with the closer Santa Clara, which is in the Valley, or Santa Cruz, which is about an hour south of the Valley.
- jhenkens 12y ago
  I'm just starting my sixth year at UCSB (undergrad + MS), and I never knew about this, but apparently there is an MSR office inside of UCSB's campus! http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/stationq/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/stationq/ That said, I wasn't sure if your comment was saying they were just confused at to where Santa Barbara is located, or if there was only labs in Santa Clara, not in Santa Barbara. That said, I find it very strange to close the SV MSR office. Lot's of California-only folks who don't want to move to the tourist-city of SB/don't fit into the MSR-StationQ at UCSB now are off the market.
- thetrb 12y ago
  If you look at labs distributed world-wide then a 5 hour drive is really not that much.
  - AceJohnny2 12y ago
    Yeah, I was wondering if the parent meant this. However, the Silicon Valley is arguably the highest concentration of CS talent in the world, and the researchers from the closed office may not want to move to Seattle when they can easily get good offers from the likes of Google/FB/Dropbox!
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  "Right on top of" really isn't particularly accurate. Though it's interesting to note that both locales have exceptionally high costs of living. For general amenity, I might prefer Santa Barbara to Mountain View, but you're sacrificing some cultural access in the process. Los Angeles isn't too far away, but the traffic is absolute murder.
twoodfin 12y ago
Don't forget NERD in Cambridge, MA.
ZanyProgrammer 12y ago
Santa Barbara is a whole other cultural world than Silicon Valley. Its like comparing LA with the Bay Area. Maybe on a global scale they are close, but I think Silicon Valley is too important to really abandon like that. We all mock and make fun of the Valley but I don't think MSFT can really abandon Valley mindshare.
mturmon 12y ago
The Santa Barbara outpost is rather peculiar because it's devoted exclusively to quantum computing.