There’s a difference between lab bench research and discoveries and then actually making them into usable products on a mass scale. That’s a big part of where engineering comes into focus, on that scale up. There’s a lot of research that proves impractical in reality because the synthesis of a material is really finicky or the purification of it is exceedingly difficult.
That said, I actually agree that private industry shouldn’t be part of this space. Companies shouldn’t be sponsoring research and picking winners like this. We need something analogous to national labs that’s focused solely on the scale up of discoveries – taking something discovered in a university or national lab and making it usable for the everyday person. And from there companies can get licenses from the government to offer the technology to consumers and make their own innovations, all of which must be reported to the government.
… So I think I’ve just convinced myself that you’re right and I agree with you, actually.
That’s a fair point actually. Competition can only exist if there’s an influx of new companies that’s roughly the number of them going out of business.
Even then though there’s an issue, because the companies which have been around the longest will have all the necessary equipment, which may be really expensive.
I’m not sure how we address this, but it’s clear the government needs to step in.
“Best outcome” covers for a lot. The “best” coffee is still grown in the global south and shipped using grossly polluting methods. The “best” computer will eventually be obsolete e-waste with minimal recycling value. The “best” EV is still reliant on car-centric infrastructure that is strangling cities.
What is “best” is highly variable, and competition cannot possibly cover all possibilities of what is best.
Destroy capitalism.
Got it.
Capitalism has one positive, and that’s the notion of competition leading to the best outcome as they try to win over consumers.
We’ve lost that though with how unfettered it’s become in general. Companies merge and conspire, eliminating competition.
Public universities and research actually produce the most amount of innovation. Another one of capitalisms lies
There’s a difference between lab bench research and discoveries and then actually making them into usable products on a mass scale. That’s a big part of where engineering comes into focus, on that scale up. There’s a lot of research that proves impractical in reality because the synthesis of a material is really finicky or the purification of it is exceedingly difficult.
That said, I actually agree that private industry shouldn’t be part of this space. Companies shouldn’t be sponsoring research and picking winners like this. We need something analogous to national labs that’s focused solely on the scale up of discoveries – taking something discovered in a university or national lab and making it usable for the everyday person. And from there companies can get licenses from the government to offer the technology to consumers and make their own innovations, all of which must be reported to the government.
… So I think I’ve just convinced myself that you’re right and I agree with you, actually.
You said it better than I ever could
Removed by mod
Exactly. We’ve let them become way too powerful. They shouldn’t be able to do this.
Competition doesn’t lead to innovation in improving people’s lives, but company profits. See: enshittification.
This is how capitalism has always worked.
When companies compete, eventually some of them lose. This means they go out of business.
The remaining companies become more powerful.
That’s a fair point actually. Competition can only exist if there’s an influx of new companies that’s roughly the number of them going out of business.
Even then though there’s an issue, because the companies which have been around the longest will have all the necessary equipment, which may be really expensive.
I’m not sure how we address this, but it’s clear the government needs to step in.
“Best outcome” covers for a lot. The “best” coffee is still grown in the global south and shipped using grossly polluting methods. The “best” computer will eventually be obsolete e-waste with minimal recycling value. The “best” EV is still reliant on car-centric infrastructure that is strangling cities.
What is “best” is highly variable, and competition cannot possibly cover all possibilities of what is best.