[justin66]

> Indeed it's rather remarkable how many of these figures like Vannevar Bush, Alan Kay, Douglas Engelbart, etc., never actually shipped much.

Your beliefs about what a researcher ought to "ship" and what researchers are actually responsible for delivering are definitely at odds.

> But they are fundamentally salesmen

Even speaking colloquially that statement represents a major misunderstanding of what a researcher (or a salesman?) is responsible for.