So roll your eyes all you want, you have no point here. Google was into the mobile business before Eric was on the board. It was even understood that Eric would not be privy to details about the tablet/phone project that was on-going.
Also, Apple invited Eric onboard in the middle of iPhone development, not the other way around.
Why would they do that if they were worried about secrecy? Some of the posters here seem to believe that Steve Jobs was incredibly stupid and showed Google everything about the iPhone ahead of time. Really? You think that little of him?
There's two reasons that are far more likely, in reverse order:
2) Apple wanted to keep tabs on what Google was doing with Android. By bringing a Google exec onboard, Apple could keep him in the dark about the iPhone's details while trying to get info on Android at the same time.
1) Apple needed Google's APIs and assistance to help make the iPhone launch a success. Imagine the first year of the iPhone without:
- Google maps.
- Builtin Google search.
- Youtube videos converted for the iPhone.
- Google cell location services for the GPS-less iPhone.
- Google web apps optimized for the iPhone.
These were (and are) core sales features, far more important than the simple weather or stocks or notepad apps that came with the iPhone.