Don't forget the "grass is always greener" in people's minds rather than reality. And supply and demand tells us something too, these people are some of the bes

Don't forget the "grass is always greener" in people's minds rather than reality. And supply and demand tells us something too, these people are some of the best in the world and the economy needs/wants them elsewhere and is sending a price signal. The company is showing them that it values them, needs them, and responding with a price signal of their own. What's unusual? Google has tons of cash, their main infrastructure is their people. I don't see why people start wringing their hands and buying into the tech journalism hyperbole over all this. What other actions could Google take that wouldn't have people filling out blog posts with breathless speculation? I suspect none. Also, Facebook's "vision of the web" is pretty crummy if you ask me, so I am surprised they have so much buzz. The only worse thing I can imagine than Facebook becoming the dominant player on the web would be Apple somehow acquiring or merging with them in an unholy alliance of evil.