Further context, absent from this Bay City News story, is that Brian Reid (a respected computer security expert, appearing in television documentaries on the subject) was well known around the Internet long before Google existed. The Bay Area had an unusually large population with Internet email and news access in the 1980s, owing both to the concentration of schools and firms directly connected, and to early public-access service providers, one of which served the entire Bay Area and began in 1985.

Reid is also remembered for promoting public discussion of food and cooking on the Internet. He and associates created the unregulated "alt" newsgroup hierarchy "after dinner May 7, 1987 at G.T's Sunset BBQ in Mountain View." Reid wrote that the "alt" hierarchy was largely "created for the purpose of carrying alt.gourmand," a moderated recipes forum. Reid had started such a forum in 1985 but was dissatisfied with its positioning after the existing newgroup structure was revised in 1987.

Too bad the lawsuit could not also include all those people not considered to work for Google because of their age. THAT is what makes up their "youthful culture" - age discrimination in hiring.