End of an era...Microsoft buys Nokia's phone division

It was announced yesterday that Microsoft will buy out Nokia's phone division so its the end of the line for Nokia as a mobile phone/device manufacturer. It's a bit sad as my first mobile phones were Nokias (2110, 5110) but they have been largely irrelevant in the marketplace since the original iPhone was released in 2007. It is interesting that so many tech companies that were once market leaders become irrelevant some quickly - think Atari, HP, Compaq, Motorola, RIM (Blackberry), etc. Goes to show that innovation is key to remaining competitive. Nokia was stuck on the outdated Symbian OS for far too long, and RIM didn't adjust to the rapidly evolving smartphone market after the release of the iPhone, thinking that its dominance in the corporate smartphone market (with secured messaging and emails) would be enough to keep its dominant market position.

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