[ksk]

Personally, I don't understand this obsession with making money from research. IMHO research should be primarily about exploration and discovery, never about products or money. Why can't you just invest a part of your profits for the express purpose of just doing something interesting? If along the way, that interesting idea manages to be made into a product, then sure go do that, otherwise, you just contributed something interesting to the human knowledge pool.

I guess at some level merely the existence of money minded people offends my sensibilities. :)

[apendleton]

Because Google is a publicly traded company and has a fiduciary obligation to put its resources to use making many for its shareholders. It's apparently pretty hard to actually succeed at making a lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty stick, but waste is one of the valid reasons for which one can bring such a suit. They can do outlandish research, but there has to at least be a glimmer of rationalization for how the thing could make them money eventually.