If all these hardware makers had invested just a little bit in desktop Linux over the past few years, they would be free from the Microsoft stranglehold by now. Why do they need daddy Google to come by an whip their backs?
Google is a cohesive force between these makers that might not otherwise have existed, except tenuously. Sure, they could have formed an industry consortium, but maybe a direct partnership never suited their game style. Maybe it's easier to band together indirectly.
It doesn't hurt that it's all under a brand name that's arguably a lot better than anything they could have come up with individually or (heh!) as a committee.
