When Nokia announced its N9/Lumia 800, I was among many delighted by the attractive hardware. With Microsoft's new Windows Phone OS—itself getting surprise raves for its minimalism and focus—it struck me that here was a vision in the sense that technologists and marketers mean it: a contemporary ideal of quality and forward-thinkingness that could translate into a serious commercial advantage. Competitors had already made their plays, after all, and even great success can lock a company in place. Perhaps the next decade in gadgets wasn't going to be divvied up by Apple and Google, after all. Read the rest