Google Aversion to Conspicuous Consumption?

[I posted this a while ago and then for some reason it disappeared into the aether. I thought it appropriate to bring it back in light of this recent story: A New (Fighter) Jet for Google’s Founders?]

Say what? I did a double -- no triple -- take when I read the following passage in the New York Times article about Andy Rubin, the lead designer of Google's smartphone software platform, Android:

Mr. Rubin readily acknowledges his obsession with consumer gadgets and even more expensive toys — an obsession that put him at odds with Google’s stated aversion to conspicuous consumption.

And this a little later:

As a result, Mr. Rubin had to buy a new car when he came to Google. (A souped-up German sports car that he recently acquired sits at home in his garage.) He acknowledges the discomfort created by the situation. “One of the things that Google’s really good at is not encouraging conspicuous consumption,” he says. “I’m a big fan of well-engineered things, and so I’m wrestling with how those two things can coexist.”

WTF?!?

What do you call the lavishly decorated 767 owned by Sergey and Larry with the exclusive landing rights at NASA's Moffett Field? Modest consumption?

This is the first time I've ever heard any kind of reference to an "aversion to conspicuous consumption" at Google. (I also just did a quick Google search and found nothing.) If true, it's the most hypocritical policy I've ever seen. Perhaps Andy can ask Sergey and Larry if he can hide his German sports car in their hangar at Moffett. <grin>