The article argues that one thing is having a successful technology, and another is having a successful business. This is, of course, true - but there's a signi

The article argues that one thing is having a successful technology, and another is having a successful business. This is, of course, true - but there's a significant correlation between the two. Correlational databases, Google's search algorithm and the light bulb were all influential technologies that founded hugely successful companies. There's a rule of thumb saying that your solution to a problem has to be 2 - 300% better than the existing state of the art for it to be adapted successfully without artificial help (marketing $, monopolies, etc.) and Google certainly lived up to that when it went live. It remains to be seen whether Wolfram Alpha will.