What the ..., Google stole my ideas?

Google per se is not evil. But it is a competitive environment internally. So some idiot had the bright idea of ripping off the idea so he or she could look good internally. Presto - the code appears in the build one morning, and others to avoid controversy keep quiet. Or the whole team wants to look good in front of upper management. Either way, it's now in the code line, and if someone upstairs likes it, it takes on a life of its own. This is how evil comes into being.

Now Google's brand and PR folks will review this situation, his post, even my comment, and then may push internally for Google to "do no evil".

Your move, Google.

(Btw, only those who have never or congenitally unable to come up with good ideas are the ones who cry loudest about how ideas mean nothing)

But again, it's possible too that they might have come up with these features coincidentally. And I agree code templates are not a new idea.

What I have really learned from this situation is to see these things positively. Good ideas are just a good start. What really makes the difference is the underlying execution and the vision behind.

I have enough friends at google that when I say "the product you are working on should have feature X" they smile knowingly at me, but say they can't talk about that. Many times it shows up later.

the response you got, of “there’s some lively conversation internally at Google" is exactly the same thing. They have been talking about it already, but they cant tip their hat to tell you anymore.