[jacobolus]

In case it was unclear, I personally am not at all resentful toward academic research. It is just that for structural reasons related to social organization and funding model, it has both advantages and disadvantages, and the latter shouldn’t be ignored.

Your post did a nice job explaining some of the reasons that academics do the type of work they do, and how that differs from hobby side projects. I think it’s more interesting to discuss the trade-offs involved instead of just passively agreeing with the OP. [Also, many non-academic projects are more organized than someone’s weekend hobby hack (large scale volunteer efforts, funded by donations and sponsorships, directly corporate-run, etc.), so it is worth discussing those as well.]