Comment by nmcost

It's coincidental that this article has reached the front page today. I just picked up The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gartner. (I'll let you know how it is when I finish)

One thing to consider is that Bell Labs didn't innovate for altruistic reasons like furthering the human race or scientific understanding. They innovated to further AT&T's monopoly and to increase shareholder value. This doesn't seem that different than what Meta, Google, NVIDIA, etc. are doing. Maybe in 10-20-30 years we will view the research that modern tech companies are doing through the same lens.

Although, I do admit that the freedom with which these scientists and engineers were able to conduct research is something special. Maybe that's the real difference here.