[egiva]

I think Sergie Brin comes across as cocky in this interview and Steve Yegge's memo about Google's failure to create platforms is more valid then ever- Brin himself has treated Google+ as an afterthought and I don't think that bodes well for the service.

[statictype]

That's generally their style - Even AdSense and Gmail - two successful Google products - were initially met with skepticism and disinterest.

(Not that I have first-hand knowledge - I read this in "In the Plex")

[philipDS]

Not entirely true. While there was a lot of skepticism on AdSense and Gmail within Google, Brin was really enthusiastic about both products. If I recall correctly, Brin was even the promotor and driver of AdSense ("Let's get this puppy launched", a famous quote by Brin on the launch of AdSense). Both Page and Brin were also the first users of Gmail and tested the product intensively within the company after Buchheit got approval for launching Gmail internally.