Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt sat down unexpectedly Thursday for 75 minutes with a dozen journalists to give their impressions on the state of the technology community and Google’s place in it.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt sat down unexpectedly Thursday for 75 minutes with a dozen journalists to give their impressions on the state of the technology community and Google’s place in it.

In a relaxed discussion, the trio fielded questions about Yahoo, Microsoft and their relationships to Google. The discussion was unusual because Allen & Company, which organizes and runs the Sun Valley Media Conference in this remote corner of Idaho, allows for journalists to ask occasional questions. But a 75-minute press conference is very much the oddity. Moreover, most of the moguls gathered here have studiously avoided answering anything substantive about their dealmaking plans when accosted by journos.

The trio of Google execs also used the opportunity to talk about the inroads the company is making with its own branded mobile phone as a replacement for the iPhone, as well as the Chinese market and how they’re treated there — and even Google’s inhouse educational programs and the salaries and potential of teachers.

But first they had a few words about Bill Gates’ company.

“Microsoft has a long history of having deals that look quite good and end up looking not so good when you look at the fine print,” Schmidt said of Microsoft’s dealings with and to acquire Yahoo.

“We took the position that the world is better off with an independent Yahoo!”

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Photo: Associated Press / Noah Berger/ Found at Wired.com

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