Is there anything about Sergey and Larry that drives you nuts, together or as individuals?

They're clever in a way that's disruptive. Here I am, I've got it all figured out, and all of a sudden they have some idea. It disrupts this brilliant notion I just had, but they come in with a better idea. It's maddening, but that's an important part of innovation.

You were brought onboard in 2001 almost as a grownup to guide the kids.

Larry and Sergey are now perfectly capable of doing the things I brought to the company then. I don't come to the party today with unique knowledge that they don't have. I had a lot of management experience, but they've developed it.

So what do they need you for now?

We each have our own specialties. They spend time on products strategy and technology. They're heavily involved in new wireless technologies, climate-change stuff, making things faster, the expansion of search, how to make the advertising system even better from a technology perspective. My job is to run the management team on a daily basis. There are many problems that all three of us are dealing with, like the scaling of the company. I'm extremely interested in the international nature of the company because I think the future is outside the U.S., so obviously that requires a lot of travel.

It was recently reported that the three of you signed a long-term agreement to stick together. Is that true?

We made an informal agreement to work together for 20 years after Google went public, so I hope to be here for a long time.

You're introducing Android, a mobile operating system for cell phones, later this year. Why does the world need another one?

Most of the older mobile operating systems were not really designed for modern Web use. They don't run the internet applications right. Many companies are looking for an inexpensive, Web-based operating system for their upcoming mobile devices that's based on open systems—Linux, in this case.

What might it do differently from what you can do on current wireless phones?

Well, it has a full browser, it has Java support, and it's being marketed to the software developers to build new applications. We don't know what a lot of those are going to be, but the most interesting ones will probably combine social activity and location. I saw a freaky demo of an application in which you and I have phones with maps, and our phones find each other and tell us where to meet.

When you bid on the new cell-phone spectrum back in January, you insisted that the winner open its network to new products—hardware and software—from competitors. Verizon, another bidder, said that it would open up not just the new spectrum but its existing network as well. Are you skeptical?

I was initially, but actions speak louder than words. And I think Verizon has shown a commitment to open access. It concluded that it was good for Verizon's customers. The senior leadership of Verizon actually visited Google to talk to us about this and make sure they got it right. And I think it's great. I wish everybody else would open up their networks.

You own a Gulfstream G-550 for your personal use. Is that what you take when you travel overseas?

Well, it's very important to say that I fly with a professional crew, with a professional pilot, and I'm licensed as a crew member.

Sounds like fun. How often do you take the controls? A lot. It's my hobby.