That is right in line with the experience of a good friend of mine. He went on a Google interview, and they said he could solve a problem in the language of hi

That is right in line with the experience of a good friend of mine. He went on a Google interview, and they said he could solve a problem in the language of his choice. They gave him the assignment and left the room. Since we were at Apple at the time, he was coding daily in Objective-C. So he solved the problem in that. Despite having said "use any language," the guy came back and said, "Oh, not THAT one." And that's not even covering the douchebaggery that reportedly occurs once you work there. Another trusted friend, who worked there for years, reported being forced to rank coworkers with a graphical tool that shows pictures of them... and requires you to move them up or down on the screen to put some above others. It makes it impossible for you to put people on an equal level. This is not from someone who makes stuff up, not to mention that this would be an oddly detailed thing to make up.