I despise Apple, and I despise the need for human beings to follow, but I am also a marketer and I have to say, Apple are way ahead - they don't need to worry about whether it has been done before or not. They have created such a cult brand with Steve Jobs as the god-like figurehead that if they said 'Steve Jobs is the first human being to take a leak in a urinal' they would all clap and cheer.

Nokia, on the other hand, does jack all. if you put posters up all over London (as Apple does) creating some kind of geek-chic around the N900 it would work, but whoever does their marketing has kind of totally missed out on how people consume advertising in modern times. Word of mouth is one thing but it is only one channel that needs to be supported by others.

And lets face it, developers and e.g. Adobe will look at products based on how much coverage/cash they themselves get from it.

Apple are vile, but their marketing strategy really is one are where all brands, not just Nokia, should watch and learn. Although clearly they should stop short of being dictatorial, humourless, totally-money-grabbing b*stards of the highest order.