> I think we also overrate the significance of the corporate labs. There are not a lot of successful examples where the host company actually profited from the invention. Just a lot that bungled them or prematurely killed them (like when AT&T almost invented the internet). Or snuck out accidentally (like the Xerox Alto).

Only on HN would someone argue that we've overrated the significance of the invention of GUIs because it didn't make the company that invented it enough money.