[bbguitar]

Fascinating reading - makes me realise just how rusty my theoretical CS knowledge is (I haven't used lisp or some of that sets notation since 1990!)

However IMHO the author should have told them NO, and why, much earlier.

Shame on you google - take dozen emu eggs, break into a bowl, whip up and apply to face.

[reikonomusha]

Saying "no" is a hard stance to take. Google undoubtedly does have some very smart people and some very interesting work, so it's difficult to throw that away because one perceives them as brain damaged when it comes to relationships and interviewing.

And of course there's always the "if you say 'no', there's always someone who will take your spot happily."

[smrtinsert]

I dunno. They seem acquire more than they build. The success stories at Google seem to always be in spite of Google rather than because of them.