Product Requirements - from customers or from the company?

I came across this article which describes why Google Wave failed http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/04/technology/google_wave_rip/index.htm

One line that struck me:
"But users struggled to wrap their heads around Wave's array of power tools. "We're still not entirely certain what Google Wave is for -- or even if humans are capable of comprehending it," Engadget commented five months after the launch."

Did Google know what Wave would look like? Was it just some crazy idea they wanted to push forward and see if it would do well in the market?

Something that's always been emphasized in class is listening to customer requirements and needs inorder to create a product that would be successful in the market. In some companies, we would go out and hold group interviews with clients to get a feel of what they want in the next version of the product.

But something innovative like the iPhone wasn't based on user requirements and specs. It's just Steve Jobs being creative. It's an example of a product doing very well in the market but not strictly following the process of gathering requirements and following up with clients. Sometimes clients don't even know what they want. As a user of a mobile phone, I like my smart phone and I have some issues with how some of the features work on my BlackBerry, but I may not necessarily think of the most creative feature or revolutionary new phone.

How do you create a product that you think will be successful? How do you know whether you should collect customer comments and follow closely to customer requirements or go totally off track with crazy ideas and do your own thing? I think there's a time and a place for both. Improvements to a product are definitely aided greatly by customer and client feedback. But in terms of innovation, since the world doesn't know what they want at times, I think it's the company's R&D dpt's responsibility to brainstorm crazy ideas.

There also comes a problem of whether any team in the company would be allowed to brainstorm crazy ideas. Even if they do, where would these new ideas go to? Would they ever be executed? Company organization  and processes are important but sometimes I think they get so bogged down with these processes that creativity isn't encouraged and employees easily slump into the habit of doing the same old same old.