[jlangemeier]

Corporate research is still going to somewhat be at the whimsy of what's bleeding edge AND has some applicable value; the idea of it just is a little different with things like the 10% or 20% "constructive free-time" model. Each engineer in FAANG-like companies just get a 10-20% salary allotment instead of the equivalent expense of researcher headcount. The idea of "constructive free time" for work is just the "agile" iteration of the research lab.

[uxp100]

Except “constructive free time” mostly isn’t a thing anymore, right?

[eru]

You can still get 20% time at Google. But you have to take it. They don't shove it in your face.