Even if it's not entirely altruistic, I'm glad Big Tech has recognized the tremendous value proposition of dedicating resources to pure unabated research. It's a cliche example, but the work of Xerox PARC will outlive the work of Xerox; and if the best way to conjure meaningful research is to throw money at the geniuses, then sign me and my pitching arm up.<p>(Note: I don't mean this as a criticism of Google, Microsoft, or Facebook -- as a company committing themselves and publishing research is unequivocally better than one which doesn't.)