I agree that this is what they think the situation is/was. I disagree that the course they took was the best possible course. In particular, these are the areas where I would have looked at the situation differently:

This is a management problem more than any thing else. They needed some fresh creative blood in there. Invest a few millions on a start-up with the right vision and get everyone to work together to accomplish it.

Sure. Say that to Apple. But really, Nokia had everything already in place. They just needed the right leadership.

The problems with Windows Phone go far beyond its feature set. It is laden with a terrible history. The company that produces it is despised by most consumers. People keep buying Windows only because of the illegal monopoly, not because people like it. People can't talk about Microsoft and Windows without rolling their eyes. And I am not talking about techies. I am talking about average consumers. The situation with techies (the primary smart phone buyers) is even worse.

There may be some wrinkles in the agreement that gives Nokia the ability to differentiate themselves a bit from other Windows Phone sellers. But Meego would have allowed far more differentiation for Nokia. Besides, in my opinion, the Windows code is not going to be as easy to work with to achieve that differentiation, especially a bug free one, as it would with Meego.


I left this point last because I think it is crucial. My reply is to say that Windows is not yet ready yet either. And, in my opinion it will never be. It is starting with the wrong approach, closed source with draconian restrictions on a platform that already has a bad reputation. I agree that waiting for Meego to be ready would have been too much of a risk. Instead of waiting, they should have bet the company on it and put all their development weight behind it. That would have given them plenty of good will, backing, and optimism from the market, the developer community, and the loyal Nokia consumers. The missed opportunity is a shame, a real shame.