That may be true to some extent, but would be blindsided to a very large potential upside for an affordable risk (you think $100 mio spent on U2's album forced

That may be true to some extent, but would be blindsided to a very large potential upside for an affordable risk (you think $100 mio spent on U2's album forced on everybody is a better investment that shareholders approve of?). Google is pursuing several 'Moonshots' that may or may not pan out. It is a matter of assigning SOME resources to the cause that will lead to patents and discoveries on the side that make the difference in the long run. Apple has--at least on the outside--not shown any efforts similar to Google X. I am an Apple shareholder and would certainly vote for assigning part of the research budget to screened approaches of such longer shots.