I'd argue that indeed, many of these acquired companies could not reach scale w/...

I'd argue that indeed, many of these acquired companies could not reach scale w/o Google. Consider Youtube which was burning millions on hosting and always on the verge of bankruptcy if they couldnt raise more funding.

Add in a company that can fund operations, provide user flow, provide a pool of advertisers, real compensation to engineers, and you have a real success.

I give Google a lot of kudos on this.

Do we really want another SUN Microsystems happenning?