[j2kun]

> Finding the maximum sum subarray isn't testing for any fundamental.

There is quite literally nothing more fundamental to computer science than data organization and access.

And for what it's worth, Google and others are very open about their hiring process: they want generalists. I assume they have the data to justify that's a better investment. So maybe DHH or whoever gave the impression they weren't interested in doing anything they haven't already mastered. We have at least a little bit of evidence that attitude could be the problem: many of these anecdotes are disgruntled people who (often profanely) publicly vent when a company rejects them. Maybe that attitude comes out during the interview when they're asked to do something they deem to be beneath them.