The outstanding problems in computer science don't seem to require ingenuity in how the code is written. Rather, solving these new problems requires ingenuity in how the problems are approached and in how the algorithms are designed. For example, I was shocked to learn that on my campus, some of the coolest work in A.I. (machine learning, or whatever you want to call it) was being done by statisticians, not computer programmers.
Why do you have to give it away? Does a web-based tool like Jira not count as a way of solving problems for people and making money at the same time?
I don't agree that all web-based businesses are media companies. It's possible to do real work and solve problems on the web and have nothing to do with "media" or advertising or social anything.
What are the top websites today? Facebook, Google, Youtube, Wikipedia, ect. What are examples of the up and coming websites? Pininterest? Reddit?
All of these websites are media based. These websites focus on the content that they provide. None of these services, with the exception of perhaps Google, really care about software development. All of them care about their sites content.
Because all of these websites are media based, their business models revolve around ads and click counts.
The problem with the web-based tools is that, by necessity, you end up needing to find a way to monetize your userbase. And that means ads, and selling private information, and selling trends, and doing all of these heinous things.
Giving away the tools lets the users help themselves, and frees you of the burden of having to keep the service alive and monetize users.