Two turkeys do not make an eagle...

Right, so first things first, let me admit that I had planned to buy the Nokia E7. It may sound odd, but I looked at it as a very sane and logical choice. I like mechanical QWERTY keypads, large screens, the ability to use Office software and the ability to customize. So, the E7 was just about the only phone that actually fit the bill!

I've had to defend my choice in the past from people who criticised the UI and the UX. It just didn't matter to me as long as the phone gave me what I wanted. And that, is just why I have such an issue with Nokia ditching Symbian and MeeGo to bed in with Microsoft and WP7.

A lot of people actually seem to like the idea of Nokia shifting to Windows. I wonder if these people can see past the first look of the screen! I mean, how on Earth can anyone endorse a platform that:

1. Can't multitask
2. Has horrid optics (No support for front-facing cameras?)
3. Can't COPY AND PASTE!!! (Didn't Microsoft pretty much come up with the whole idea?)

I've used Nokia for over a decade, so for me, most of these things - particularly the first two - are things that I can't live without. To my mind, Nokia has always made the best phones when it comes to hardware. Great design, extreme sturdiness and good build quality. What the phones always lacked was the UI - something that was shown up by Apple and iOS with such dramatic effect.

Tying up with Microsoft may give Nokia a better looking phone OS, but really, why on Earth would one buy into an OS that clearly lacks even basic features like those I outlined above, has a worse-than-pathetic app base (particularly for those outside the US), has shown no signs of living with the times when it comes to mobile computing and has been absolutely shafted on sales since its launch?

Qt offered Nokia the opportunity to change their UI and UX while also supporting a massive dev base with the promise of the upcoming MeeGo. It gave Nokia the freedom it has always touted proudly as a strength and was showing results with a fast-improving app base. What was needed was a massive UI upgrade and an overhaul of the Ovi store to make it a more appealing place to surf and shop.

Instead, by jettisoning first S90 a while back, Nokia fell behind the competition and by now jettisoning Qt as well as MeeGo, Nokia has ensured that its short term sales will most likely nosedive. I for one, am now about to procure an iPhone 4 and personally know at least 3 others who've jettisoned their own E7 plans in favour of iOS or Android. Why bother buying a phone, OS and platform that have no future and have already been announced as being well on the path to death? Whatever Nokia may say, for a smartphone user, this announcement has restricted the choice to 2 'ecosystems' - at least for the foreseeable future.

In the longer term, surely this is the biggest and most reckless gamble ever! WP7 is unproven and heavyweights like Samsung and HTC who are ruling the Android market have also failed miserably when it came to their own WP7 models - despite having years of experience with Microsoft OSes on their phones. What makes Nokia think that they would do otherwise? Unless MS really works at breakneck speed and overtakes the ever-improving Android and iOS, what could change things? Devs don't appear to like MS too much either. And will they now trust Nokia? After been sold up s*it-creek, who would blame them for preferring the established iOS and Android instead?

I wonder, really, at what is really in it for Nokia. I can't see Nokia being allowed to change the WP7 OS to customize it for their phones. Can you imagine the outcry from HTC, Samsung and the likes if that were to happen? And if they can't change that, surely WP7 is even less of a differentiation opportunity than Android - which, being open source, would have given them the greater scope to differentiate...

All in all, it's a Hell of a gamble and Nokia's just placed all its eggs in one - very - flimsy basket. They've also almost certainly lost a truckload of customers. Winning them back is going to be a far tougher job in 2 years' time - which is the earliest I see them having a viable 'ecosystem'. I may well be wrong, but this is one erstwhile Nokia user saying "So long and thanks for all the fish". It was good while it lasted...