RE: "we have enough of these photo sharing gimmicks already" RE: "I think the author is missing the opportunity cost here"

The fact that there's already entrenched photo sharing kings means that you don't have to be first to market, overspend, or rush. There's no time crunch here, meaning that a great product could have been built well - over time - on budget, and still have had success.

Did you even read the article? The photo storage / sharing / librarian market is HUGE. Definitely large enough to support multiple players, even marginal ones that make $3-400k/yr.