I run my own companies so no, but I know what you mean. I however suspect that this runs deeper than just Google's hiring process:
We're all (technical folk) steeped since we were 12 years old in a culture that says that solving tricky problems in the most elegant way is what gets you love. This way of thinking predates computers by thousands of years. I think this is the root of why you see everything slant towards cool trickery rather than solid engineering and working stuff. There is something of an age factor but only insofar as the more experienced people end up having this way of thinking partially beaten out of them by real life experiences and the benefit of a long time observing the "nons" in the world.
We're all (technical folk) steeped since we were 12 years old in a culture that says that solving tricky problems in the most elegant way is what gets you love. This way of thinking predates computers by thousands of years. I think this is the root of why you see everything slant towards cool trickery rather than solid engineering and working stuff. There is something of an age factor but only insofar as the more experienced people end up having this way of thinking partially beaten out of them by real life experiences and the benefit of a long time observing the "nons" in the world.