We all have one don't we? That job that if we could just get it, we would be completely content, nay not content, joyful, fulfilled.

I don't know what your dream job is, but mine would be to work in a think tank. To be paid to sit around and dream all day would be as close to heaven as one can get without some sort of pharmacological assistance.

To take that one step further, my ultimate dream job (pause for echo) would be to be given a team consisting of software developers, hardware developers and UI specialists that were tasked with creating whatever it is I am dreaming up this week.

Working at a place like Apple or Microsoft with this type of mandate would probably be the greatest job any geek could have. I am very good at conceiving of, what I like to think, are amazing ideas. I usually have the time and skill set to realize maybe 1/3 of the ideas I have. To be able to task a team of specialists to build prototypes of the crap I come up with would be amazing.

It is my not-so-humble opinion that initiatives like this aren't given the due they deserve, for a number of reasons. High on the list of course is cost. Allowing people to dream, design and execute novel products is expensive from a monetary as well as manpower angle. Further complicating this is the fact that this type of process is fraught with danger.

There is a very real chance that the products that come out of this process would amount to nothing. This is the main reason I think that companies like Microsoft don't really pay much attention to this type of development.

Microsoft has researchers in multiple countries doing amazingly cool work that seems to never make its way to the people who make the money decisions. The Courier prototype is a prime example of this. There is danger inherit in the system, but there is also amazing rewards in it as well.

I think companies like RIM and Microsoft need to start thinking like startups again if they want to get back some of the ground they have lost. Take some chances, and for the love of mike, pay attention to what is happening in your research divisions.

Right, so Microsoft if you are listening, I could seriously help with the "amazing, must have, gadgets" deficiency you have over there. I am awaiting your call. :) So, would anyone else like to share their "dream jobs"?