[jroseattle]

That is Brin's code for "I don't care what Steve Yegge thinks."

So, Sergey, you need things in a paragraph or less? Here you go:

If you're going to put the Google name on a product and release it, try doing it in a manner that's not half-assed.

Sorry to be so curt, Sergey -- but I didn't want to lose your interest.

[SkyMarshal]

That doesn't really encapsulate Yegge's main point, about Google needing to fully commit to becoming a platform company like Amazon and Facebook.

[jroseattle]

I was trying to go with his initial explanation of Google+ as a poor effort.

[jimworm]

Journalists edit quotes and mention them out of context. The "1000-page" comment surely wasn't completely serious.

Here's a 1-paragraph summary:

"Our current approach to building products closes them off from each other, and from the rest of the net. That limits their usefulness to only what our product managers could predict and our engineers could build. This is a serious issue that will cause the products - and the company - to die. The alternative is to start thinking of products as data and functionality sharing platforms, let them interact, let outside devs play, and let the ecosystem grow. Growing an ecosystem this way is worthwhile: Amazon did amazingly well out of it even though implementing it via Bezos-mandate sucked in so many ways. Let's do that, and do it better."

[jroseattle]

Of course the 1000-page comment isn't serious, but Brin also isn't letting it slide -- he intended to throw some water on that debate.

Your summary is much more graceful than my own. I blame Brin for my forced brevity, lest I lose his interest.