[jrm4]

100%

"Product" is the problem here, right? A product is a

1) Finished complete shrink-wrapped thing

2) that someone else can't have unless they give you money for it.

Both of these characteristics strike me as part of an incredibly bad model for "making good software."

[dist1ll]

True. The other problem is that many companies have neither the capital, nor the risk-tolerance, nor the expertise in building and maintaining an R&D department. That's where the "curiosity itch" gets scratched, and where hacker and corporate interests are pretty much aligned.