Something Else I Obviously Don't Understand
off slashdot: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/bell-labs-kills.html
So Microsoft is now the only corporation I know of that still does basic research. How are they able to do this?
Is it because fundamental physics research is that much more expensive than computer science research (and Alcatel-Lucent can’t make up the difference)? Is it because Alcatel-Lucent is (probably myopically) profit-focused? Is it just because Microsoft is huge? Some combination of the above?