First, I was sort of annoyed that I had to "sign in" in order to read public statements from former employees about the "20% time" being dead at Google. Beyond that, I think few companies exists that just want to make great products and know that eventually the money will come. In the meantime, most companies are there to make money and if the numbers show that people are more productive working 100% of their time on responsibilities rather than innovation, then who can blame them - they want to make money. However, this is Google, a mega company making tons! of money, so I expect them to encourage innovation. In fact, someone I know recently interviewed there and the "20% time" for side projects is something they seem proud to promote, so can it really be dead? I think the issue may be in the managers/company EXPECTING results out of this time investment, rather than seeing it as a way to encouraging innovation that won't necessary lead to a Gmail or Talk.