This is the key I think. For every instagram there are hundreds of half baked products that never make it past the initial stages (hell, I have tried to build a few..)
At Google such things often do get past the initial stages, and then flop. Even more probably gets shoved under the carpet.
Google are quite openly trying out the different projects, looking for a hit. Classic example; Gmail. Slightly different because that was a "hit" internally first, but the basic idea applies. A project that ended up working well, resources got thrown at it and, some hiccups later, a really huge success.
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meh, Instagram seems pretty useless to me. Google builds more cool stuff in an average month than Instagram ever has.
This is the key I think. For every instagram there are hundreds of half baked products that never make it past the initial stages (hell, I have tried to build a few..)
At Google such things often do get past the initial stages, and then flop. Even more probably gets shoved under the carpet.
Google are quite openly trying out the different projects, looking for a hit. Classic example; Gmail. Slightly different because that was a "hit" internally first, but the basic idea applies. A project that ended up working well, resources got thrown at it and, some hiccups later, a really huge success.
Instagram seems to have made something people want.