In a time when speed is often valued over patience, there is something to be said for being first to market with a great idea. Google has a history of arriving late to the market. But it also has a history of introducing highly refined, bar-raising products that seamlessly integrate with widely-used free services. Google is a patient company. They watch. They listen. They learn. Then—THEN—they act. This can be difficult while the competition is rushing to be first to introduce a new idea. After a few half-baked attempts at original innovations (Wave, Buzz), Google’s innovation-through-refinement may have paid off with Google+.

Google’s refinements have a way of eclipsing the innovations of web pioneers. Yahoo!, Alta Vista, Hotbot and Excite laid the search engine foundation. Google refined them into the most user-focused, trusted and enduring search engine in existence. Hotmail and Yahoo were the premiere free email services on the web. Gmail refined free e-mail with more storage and a smorgasbord of useful functions to enhance and simplify our e-communications. And although Firefox and Safari are still go-to browsers, Google Chrome simply gets to the point faster by letting us do a Google search (which most folks are likely to do first anyway) directly from the address box, not the little box next to it.

And attracting over 10 million users in its first three weeks doesn’t hurt. Public enthusiasm—and a ravenous hunger for inclusion—at the introduction of Google+ has led to widespread discussion, adoption and evangelism. Even from people who haven’t set up their accounts yet.

Early users jumped in with both feet, singing the praises of Google+’s ease-of-use, superior organization and seamless integration with Google’s strongest assets—the Google Search engine and Gmail. The clean look, intuitive social-circle filtering, ability to “+1” (their answer to Facebook’s “Like” button) anything on the web, extension to 
e-mail contacts and seemingly total lack of unwanted apps (no Farmville in sight, folks) draw attention to the failings of Facebook. Many of our friends’ first Google+ posts were tutorials of how to delete your Facebook account.

Of course, several of these early-adopters are the same people that were raving about Google Wave and Buzz. But it’s clear that Google has taken their time with this one—learning from their own mistakes, and moreover the mistakes of others, and applying their masterful refinement process.

Social networking is a wheel that need not be reinvented—but it needs to be improved. Refined. Evolved. With Google+, Google gives us more of what we want on the web—a practical, one-stop-shop approach to making life on the web easier and more efficient. It’s got our +1.