The Net of R&D

There’s an interesting discussion on John Battelle’s blog about the amount the different software companies spend on research and development.

I would just like to add to what is said there that I find it amazing that Microsoft manages to keep all its projects and research focused on specific and long-term goals (.NET 3.0, Vista, etc.).
I find that much more useful than Google’s approach of shooting in all directions and releasing a new “beta” every other week…