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MIT Media Lab Europe: An Obituary

Posted by michael on from the flew-too-close-to-the-sun dept.

David R writes "Media Lab Europe, offspring of the famous MIT Media Lab, is closing its doors forever, as announced today. The corporate funding strategy hasn't worked out. Strangled by the stopped river of Irish government funding, the lab ceases its operations. Having worked there for quite some time, I can give you the gory details and a lot of background on MLE's closure. It has sure been the fanciest, geekiest and most open work, research and play environment I've seen. The moral? I think it is questionable whether basic or visionary, interdisciplinary (and often badly evaluated) research will be funded by private corporations. But secondly, European companies need a culture of sponsorship, which has existed in America for a long time."

5 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Private Funding of Research Requires a Monopoly by fijimf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Privately owned companies have a responsibility to deliver to their shareholders. The true test of whether a company is a monopoly or not is whether there is a willingness to fund basic research science without a myopic focus on the bottom line. Monopolies can afford this.

    The evidence supporting is TJ Watson, Bell Labs, and Xerox Parc. Sadly, as the monopoly is eliminated so is the research.

    And while their output hasn't been earth shattering yet, this is further evidence of Microsoft's monopoly.

  2. If you want me to read your blog, make it readable by GGardner · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So, the fine article sounds interesting, but when I click on the link, the article has an annoying alpha-blended background peeking through onto the text. Sure, that's cool in a geeky way, but annoying enough so that I can't even finish reading the text. I wonder if this is a metaphor for the Media Lab in general -- stuff that's geeky for the sake of being cool, but kind of a flop when it hits the real world.

  3. Re:Inside Scoop by Altus · · Score: 2, Interesting


    No.... the prefer to measure in Smoots.

    --

    "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson

  4. Re:Media Lab, RIP already by khallow · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Consider the global economy competition. US workers are not doing the manufacturing, nor other minimal value added activities. Some supporters of off shoring have said that the US needs to innovate, as this is their place in the global marketplace. So what do we do? Shut down one of the places where were were innovating?

    Innovation's not just discoveries and inventions, but profiting from those discoveries and inventions. MLE failed to do that. Also, reading through some of the stories, I sense that MLE had really poor control of costs. They may also had a less than competent leadership, I don't know the merits of including two members of the band, U2 on the board of directories (Bono at least appears to be a solid businessman and media expert), but having a founder of Wired magazine as Chairman should be a big warning flag.

  5. Re:So are most UK lecturers. by tgma · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It seems to me that the situation you are describing would be a perfect environment where academics could take their discoveries and apply them in business. As you say: "if someone wants such-and-such a product, or needs such-and-such information, then the lecturer will adapt what they are doing to fit". This means that the academics in their ivory towers get plenty of exposure to the real world - I can't believe that in a university, there is no contact between the academics who get funding from business and those who get government funding to do academic research. It looks to me like the channels running from the academy to business are fairly well open.

    I started my working life in a UK university, as a lowly research assistant on a government funded project. Both my parents are academics, and this is what I wanted to do with my life. However, I quickly realised that an academic salary would never allow me to buy a decent house in the town where I was living. And this was ten years ago. I was working in economics, and we did a fair amount of external consulting work. So I have some experience of what you are talking about, although I am sure that things are different in science and engineering.

    I then went to work in finance, and to be honest, this is one area where the British are quite good at applying the results of academic research to making money. It's a bit more abstract than science, of course, but quite important for the British economy. I would argue, based on a fairly narrow experience, that the issue is not the academics, but the businesses. True, I have seen some very hamfisted attempts at business by academics, but at least they are trying. There is an image of academics refusing to sully their hands with business, but my experience is that in the UK at least, they will do anything to make a buck. I think the problem is more with a lack of innovation by business - UK businesses don't invest that much in R and D, although I know that there are exceptions. This is in marked contrast to the US model, where companies are expected to innovate, and failure is not a disaster. UK industries tend to stay in comfortable niches (again, in general). I suspect that MLE Europe failed because of its own mismanagement, but that doesn't mean that universities are unable, in principle, to build mutually profitable links with business.