And even if it weren't much more technically complex than that, which I'm sure it is, a product is much more than the sum of the technologies behind it.
One of the most ubiquitous inventions I've seen develop in my lifetime is luggage on wheels. The technology is trivial (it's a combination of two simple things that have existed for centuries) but somehow it didn't get invented until the late '80s/early '90s. Now you wouldn't buy a suitcase without it, and it makes travel infinitely more pleasant.
I prefer the "only take carry-on luggage" approach.
This does require being able to travel quite light though - most of my trips are 1 week or less at a conference so I only take clothes, laptop and assorted chargers.
That isn't an accurate description of what flickr does. The kinds of problems they work on are a lot more complicated than arranging images.