The Department of Justice seems to think that it, and the courts more generally, should decide what new technology should go in the product or not. Taken to an extreme limit, if this view prevails, then Microsoft should fire me. It is hard to single out the impact of a single topic. You know that statistically speaking, some of the babies will become leaders, entertainers, doctors, journalists, scientists, sports stars or others of note. You also know that many won't.
Research projects are similar.
I have spent a bunch of time this summer digging up dinosaurs and working on several projects in paleontology. This fall I will go fly fishing in Mongolia. Meanwhile, I just installed a new microprocessor-controlled attachment for my barbecue cooker that is just amazing.