Gmail Plans to Allow Google Plus Users to Send Anyone an Email - NYTimes.com

Evidently the Googleplex Buzz experience memory has faded

"Google has grappled before with the gulf between ideas conceived by engineers and the desires and concerns of its users.
For instance, the change is reminiscent of Buzz, the social network based on Gmail contacts that Google started in 2010. It was met with an uproar and was the subject of a Federal Trade Communications fine over privacy violations, before being shut down.
Buzz, like the new Google Plus email feature, was turned on by default and required people to opt out if they did not want their Gmail inbox linked with a social network."

Gmail Plans to Allow Google Plus Users to Send Anyone an Email - NYTimes.com