Elop seems determined to walk in Adam Osbourne's footsteps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
Given his clear commitment to WP7 at all costs, what would motivate anyone to buy an N9, much less develop for its "platform?"
The two top OS players in the market, Google and Apple, each have exactly one platform they push (Android and iOS respectively). If neither of those titans thinks it's prudent to support two entirely different platforms, how am I to reconcile myself with the idea that Nokia can successfully attack the market on two separate fronts?
Ouch.
If I were the management, I would be hostile to it and do whatever I could to bury it. We know from history that Nokia can bury their own phones, but I have no idea if they can do it on purpose:)
Of course, my hope as a geeky N900 owner is that the N9 catches on, Nokia pivots to releasing Meego/Harmattan phones along with W7 phones, and starts putting money into Meego again until it's ready for primetime. I don't think it's too likely, though, without a leadership change.
Rick Belluzzo's footsteps are a better comparison: (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Belluzzo for more); He killed HP's processor business (giving it to Intel for free), then destroyed SGI (killing MIPS and IRIX in the process).
The main beneficiary in all three cases (Nokia, SGI, HP) is actually Microsoft - where Belluzzo got a job later, and I'm sure Elop will go back to later to collect his reward -- after all, he sold Nokia to MS for $1B, way below market price.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novell#Beyond_NetWare
Bought Unix Systems Laboratories, Wordperfect, Quattro Pro, and DR DOS, and squandered them, accelerating Microsoft's dominance of PC operating systems and office software.
With both Apple and Google, you have some sense of where it's going to go (more of the same, just better). With Nokia, who can reliably predict where the platform's going to go in a year or so? Or even which one?
Still, N9 gives me a glimmer of hope. One can hope, right?