I agree @hm243 that both types of research are indeed important and necessary. I, like you, am more interested in working on projects that will have a product on the market in my lifetime. I think there’s something very exciting and rewarding to see a product out on the market that you helped develop/commercialize. I work on the business side of things at a non-profit, so some PIs have been working 5/10/20 years on something and then our office comes in to move it forward with commercialization. It’s very rewarding to see patients actually using something you helped develop/commercialize.
To spend years on a research project that might not produce a commercial product, or to be passed down to another lab member or to beat to publication/market by another PI does not sound appealing to me personally. Working as the bridge from the lab bench to the commercial product is extremely exciting and rewarding.