one of my primary motivations for joining google was because i really wanted to be in (what i felt, from talking to my friends that worked there, was) a place that was passionate about the quality and health of their codebase, and that was constantly striving not just for better things to do but for better ways to do those things. so far (18 months in), it has pretty much been everything i expected it to be.
it's not true that i "don't care what i'm working on", but the basic engineering culture of google is such that i'm pretty sure i'd have been happy here even if i hadn't got my first choice of product area. i notice an overemphasis on hacker news about how there should be one Problem You're Passionate About Solving, and that that should be what drives you, but that's very much a psychology-of-the-individual thing.
it's not true that i "don't care what i'm working on", but the basic engineering culture of google is such that i'm pretty sure i'd have been happy here even if i hadn't got my first choice of product area. i notice an overemphasis on hacker news about how there should be one Problem You're Passionate About Solving, and that that should be what drives you, but that's very much a psychology-of-the-individual thing.