It's all in the timing.
Some good friends of mine started a company called Summize a couple years or so ago. It's comprised of a few of the top search/math/algorithm brains on planet Earth. I'd argue they have the highest ratio of search genius to employee count. Anyway, their initial, technically sound, product which does/did sentiment analysis (better than anything you've ever used) for products on the web, has/had been moving on at a decent, but not radical pace, for awhile now. What's funny is that when they applied a relatively tiny fraction of their brains (think weekend project) to something with buzz, Twitter, they're all the rage. Checkout their Twitter search API, and their recent mention on Read Write Web. A total testament to market timing. Way to go guys!