It really was a tongue in cheek comment ;) Main point is this trend towards grey on black is a UI nightmare.

I am wondering if this is more a move to unify design elements from Andriod with the Google web presence...A way to bridge the gap between the mobile UI (andriod) experience, and the google-web-at-large UI experience. I imagine as part of branding and customer imprinting.

Even if that is not the base reason, it is interesting to consider.

Hmm, maybe. The mobile site now has the menu look like tabs. Very cute, like a miniature Chrome.

It also seems rather similar to the decisions that Apple is making with the Lion/iOS designs.

I never used Android. Which side would you like to see Google drifting to?