The laser. The transistor. Optical fiber. All are transformational technologies that came into being not at academic labs or at startup companies, but at the research centers of large corporations – respectively, Hughes Aircraft, Bell Labs, and Corning Glass Works.
In each case, a company allowed its researchers to be curious, to pursue projects that wouldn’t add a dime to its bottom line in the next quarter, or the next year – or maybe ever.
But in the 1980s and ’90s, corporate research became less curious, as managers pursued a “return on investment.” Almost all of what now passes for corporate research consists of tweaking existing products rather than pursuing entirely new technologies. Fortunately, some companies are still thinking grandly – exploring areas of science and technology not immediately related to their existing sources of revenue.
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