"Bell Labs. I am not sure what happened with Bell Labs but they were a premiere research arm at one time. I think someone has mentioned it here before but the transistor and some other stuff came out of Bell Labs."
Does Bell Labs still exist? Depends on what you mean by Bell Labs. I saw a PBS program (a Nova, I think) in which Bell Labs veterans of the 50's, 60's, and 70's complained that the atmosphere and working conditions had changed so much, just before they left, that it was no longer possible to do the same kind of breakthrough research that had been possible under the more generous support that had been provided earlier. As far as THEY were concerned, Bell Labs had ceased to exist. However, the laboratories continued in various forms and through various mergers after the breakup of AT&T, with some impressive achievements. This year, the current form of Bell Labs (Alcatel-Lucent) stopped research in basic science and announced that research in the future would concentrate on applied research in marketable areas. This narrow focus on applied research is not in the spirit of the earlier Bell Labs. So did the breakup of AT&T kill Bell Labs? Maybe, maybe not. The earlier Bell Labs has been portrayed as a scientific utopia, which it may well have been. But few corporations are anywhere near that generous, and it's probably unrealistic to expect utopias to last. --Constance Warner ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
