He didn't go and release both products to see which would win out; the better product was selected internally and Apple went with that. The article is about Google releasing two of everything, not making multiple prototypes of things.

I actually think making multiple prototypes is a good thing, it helps you understand things from more angles and see more possibilities about how a problem can be solved. But going and releasing both is confusing to customers and ultimately fragments your product line-up (canibalizing your sales) which is something Apple is desperate to avoid.