> makes you wonder why more companies don't "float" ideas to see how much traction they might get
How do you know they don't? Whether to test the waters of consumer reception, or to decoy me-too competitors into doing something foolish, it's too good an idea to pass up, and I think it's reasonable to suspect Apple of having done both in the past -- see, for example, the persistent rumors around the "Apple Phone" which cropped up a couple of years before the iPhone did, and the similar rumors around the "iWatch", which, being the bad idea it is, seems less likely to materialize with every passing day, but which has certainly convinced Samsung et al that it's worth investing in that bad idea just in case Apple knows something they don't.
How do you know they don't? Whether to test the waters of consumer reception, or to decoy me-too competitors into doing something foolish, it's too good an idea to pass up, and I think it's reasonable to suspect Apple of having done both in the past -- see, for example, the persistent rumors around the "Apple Phone" which cropped up a couple of years before the iPhone did, and the similar rumors around the "iWatch", which, being the bad idea it is, seems less likely to materialize with every passing day, but which has certainly convinced Samsung et al that it's worth investing in that bad idea just in case Apple knows something they don't.