I don't see anything wrong with having a job so long as you are doing it consciously. There are certain things that are harder to do on your own. Blogging and speaking can be done at home without much investment. On the other hand, if your desire is to work on cutting edge technology (particle accelerator in the basement anyone?), it might actually be easier to do it working for a company making use of their resources. In fact, it might be smarter to work for one to get experience, and then try doing it on your own. Not all companies are evil either.
