The New Bell Labs at Lucent: Is Basic Research Really Dead?

Monday's Wall Street Journal featured an article about some major changes underway at Bell Labs, a unit of the soon-to-be-acquired Lucent. The headline is that applied research is in, and fundamental research of the type that made the Labs famous, and won so many Nobel prizes for its staff, is out. Or, at least, greatly diminished.

As I read the article, it occurred to me that, although pure research was a good idea in the era of large industrial utilities, perhaps it no longer is. With such widespread use of many current technologies enabling smaller firms to innovate, perhaps "pure" research is an appropriate relic of a bygone era.

With ample venture capital, seasoned managers and smaller-scale tools, perhaps "pure" research can sprint off the test bench and into application and production so fast that perhaps it no longer makes sense to treat it separately commercially.

There will still be scientists at universities, researching and publishing for tenure, etc. It's not like all pure research is ending.

Rather, a smart scientist with a basic invention can now have a start-up formed around him, including funding, management, and, if necessary, regulatory acumen. Somehow, I sense handwringing for a bygone era that, in fact, was less productive than might have been.

Think about this. Has your life changed at a faster pace, been delivered more valuable innovation, in the last 20 years, or the period from, say, 1950-1970. The vaunted Labs did produce the transistor, and other basic discoveries. But, realistically, who would question that the pace of innovation has increased, not slowed, since the breakup of the old Bell System over 20 years ago that led to this crossroads for Bell Labs.

In fact, I often suggest to colleagues that, if the Bell breakup had never occurred, we probably would be far behind where we are today, in terms of technological innovations such as: cell phones, Blackberrys, the internet, and the now-burgeoning world of video content on demand.

Perhaps what's gone missing is basic research of the kind that shareholders pay for, but for which they fail to see results. I think basic research is alive and well, but its half-life is considerably shorter now, before it's applied to commercial enterprises.