Exactly -- without having swung and missed so many times, they wouldn't have hit so many out of the park, too.

Gmail, Maps, Docs, and Reader all started out as these same sorts of embryonic projects that got critical mass and justified their development into the blockbuster services they are now. It seems ingrained in Google's corporate culture to push things out there and see what has staying power. Some things stick and some don't, that's life.