I suppose my "complaint" is that they could do a better job of bridging the gap, but perhaps I am wrong. You do make a good point that the mouse+kb may be too cumbersome for some (most?) consoler switchers.
I do wish that I could see what sort of solution Valve could come up with if forced to keep the primary mouse+kb, though. Some sort of streamlined solution which you partly imagine in your post.
I always wondered if something like that would be possible.. So you'd have all your precision mouse movement without the akward balancing of loose things while sitting on the couch, or getting up and sitting down.
hoverfield: http://www.correlatedmagnetics.com/products/hoverfield-non-c...
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/phantom-keyboar/
Aaaand looks like the keyboard actually made it to market, there's even one on ebay. I had no idea.