Annnnnd, joke fails due to logic error.

Yikes! No, please. (go or die) or (go and die) = die.

Then those objective measures do not actually indicate consumer value, which is what we're really talking about when we say "best".

Most celebutants do indeed crash and burn. We see it all the time. A fool and his money, and all that. If you refer to Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, then as much as I am loath to say this, they are brilliant marketers offering a product that their intended market simply can't get enough of. Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes lacked this business acumen, so they turned into cautionary tales. I predict Miley Cyrus will join them soon.

Failure is a part of risk, and risk is the key to success. Most success stories begin with a string of failures. We bust our balls through our failures and keep going until we succeed. Do you accept a resume rejection with a sigh of acceptance and resignation? No; you keep applying until you get an interview. It's just how it works.

A lot of savvy businessmen work very hard to make sure they know all the right people at the right time. There's a lot of "work" in "networking".

The problem with this recent crop of op-ed's is that it gives the editors the perfect to show off how much they don't know or understand. For instance, the pot-shot at Randian capitalism (disclaimer: I'm no fan of Rand and I'm pretty sure she would hate my guts) tells me that he has never actually read Ayn Rand, and if he did, did not understand what he was reading.

the products that are the most successful are not necessarily the best, by any objective measure

There IS no objective measure. One man's trash, yadda yadda yadda. The most successful products meet the most demand at the most sustainable price and supply. Period.

And since you cannot manufacture a lucky break

Bullshit. No one gets sucess by happy accident and remains so. Lottery winners lose their money within months. The coolest invention with a bad business model goes kaput. The richest tech guys toiled in a basement or garage or dorm room for years on end before they got their break. No one succeeds without busting their balls and working hard. Luck plays a factor. Luck can open a window, but it can't make you successful.

As long as the product itself is functional, just have the right connections lined up when you launch it. Because that's what matters, and don't let the deluded ghost of Ayn Rand tell you otherwise.

I don't even know what to make of this ignorant word salad. Pick up a book and read it sometime.

Most people are here for the politics and outrage, now, not the tech.

All we really want to know is: did they find a Stargate?

It was what it was: a proof of concept; spaghetti thrown at the wall to see if it sticks. The ideas in Google Wave have been incorporated into a bunch of stuff all over the net, from G+ to Facebook and elsewhere.

I don't see any reason to eschew experimentation simply for the sake of familiarity. The old inbox will always be around; if not at Google, then at a competitor. You lose nothing. And for every hundred failed ideas, there's one gem that changes how we think about something forever.

It is hilarious that almost every post in this thread is (-1, Offtopic). The majority of posters are in agreement; this doesn't belong here. Offtopic? The entire damned post is (-1, Offtopic).

Well, then submit a Poland see what everyone else thinks.

This is an important story. It is being covered on every other news site in better depth than Slashdot can offer. Current events is not Slashdot's forte. You do not have to be an RSS feed for Google News. I already have Google News. Focus on the nerd news that Google News does not cover.

Oh, well, if all we have to do is regress our technology, then the tax isn't onerous at all. Bunch of whiners. Pull out your #2 pencils and slide rules (in imperial) and shut up.

They could Sweden the pot with consumer subsidies.

Errr... so I am sympathetic to the argument in general, but this case is about Hungary, not the US.