Yes, and the other thing about "Moonshots" is that they have profoundly clear goal. "Moonshot" is used to describe really ambitious undertakings and while that's true, the other part of "a moonshot" is having a specific endpoint which people are working towards.
The goal of Verily is to "tackle big mysteries of disease prevention and health". That's rather vague and they even admit that they will "evolve the mission" over time.
Bell labs was perhaps the closest thing to having a bunch of smart people getting together and solving interesting problems-- unfortunately, today, in the era where results-oriented project managers run the show, magical places like Bell labs are a thing of the past.
>in the era where results-oriented project managers run the show, magical places like Bell labs are a thing of the past.
To be fair, also in an era when Ma Bell doesn't have a virtual monopoly over telecommunications in the United States--may have worked for the time but really wasn't such a wonderful thing. Bell Labs did do a lot of wonderful things but they resulted in part from the fact that they were funded by an organization which was essentially insulated from market competition.
True, just saying that Bell Labs earned its place in history during a time with very different constraints and that such an environment would be impossible or at least very difficult to re-create today.
The goal of Verily is to "tackle big mysteries of disease prevention and health". That's rather vague and they even admit that they will "evolve the mission" over time.
Bell labs was perhaps the closest thing to having a bunch of smart people getting together and solving interesting problems-- unfortunately, today, in the era where results-oriented project managers run the show, magical places like Bell labs are a thing of the past.