Just a quick thought on Chrome: it is a response to data, and not necessarily an innovation.

With all Google knows about the web, it logically follows that they would see its problems and know its limits – moreso than anyone.

It’s quite possible that any other company wouldn’t have risked so much on something like Chrome without knowing for sure what direction the web was heading. Google knows for sure.

The reason developers are allowed to do what they want at Google is because Google knows that giving access to their data to someone smart will always lead to some big ideas. They know what their data means.

Maybe some ideas just come to people, but I think most ideas are answers to what’s been learned.

With this in mind, The Data may be Google’s only real, tangible asset. It’s only food. They must never stop consuming it or they will die.