[kyoji]

So the author spends half the article talking about how lame and counter-productive cloning is, ie "...Instead they tweak a little here, add a little there, and launch it as a variation of the original. That’s evolution, not stealing." then goes on to say that's Google's only choice?

I don't believe it. Google wasn't first to market with apps like Gmail or Google Docs, but their implementation is arguably much better than the competition. Why cant Google do this with social networking?

He says: "What Google shouldn’t do – must not do – is try to tie the service to other Google products for the wrong reasons." This makes no sense. I think a social networking service that utilized Google's other services effectively would be a very powerful thing. I could see tight integration between events and your Google calender, or sharing Google docs/waves easily with friends. Google has a massive portfolio of very useful services; it would be foolhardy to not use them if they were to attempt a "Facebook clone" as the author so lovingly calls it.