Well, I would say faster for the same price is better in this case, so the consumer is winning here... But you're right, that's plenty more than we need...
Agreed with the paid upgrade. Businesses are ready to pay for such things, especially when they bought a $500 iPad just for the purpose... what's $15 on a card reader? As was suggested, a cheap and free reader as well as a paid upgrade would work well I think.
I could see a product similar to code search being integrated into services like github and others. Code search wasn't perfect, it basically just searched code. What if you had a product that could, like an IDE, follow method declarations and the like? That'd be cool.
I could imagine Nokia becoming just a phone hardware manufacturer (many have pointed out that they have great hardware) like LG or HTC, and integrate software from companies such as Microsoft. If Samsung, LG, HTC do it, how hard can it be?
Nokia doesn't want that though. Nokia leadership views "just a phone hardware manufacturer" as a doomed fate in a commodity business, much like PC manufacturers have been a commodity for the past 10-20 years. Granted, Dell has done alright in that space, but overall that market still represents a commoditized business.
Instead, Nokia wants to control the stack. That means having an integrated hardware + software solution. That creates real competitive advantage, which creates real profits. Apple has 25% margins. Dell has single digit margins.
No-one else can be Apple. It's questionable how long Apple can continue to be Apple. They got to own a stack because they started way ahead of the competition and haven't slacked or hit any technological walls. Upon the inevitable moment they lose momentum, the clones baying at their heels will eat them. This happened before, with classic Mac before the Jobs renaissance.
As for Nokia, the market has reached a point of consolidation on standards comparable to the collapse of competing computer types in the early 90s from Atari, Commodore, Acorn, Amstrad etc to PC and Mac and nothing else. So they can either sell hardware or die.
It's interesting to note that Apple was in a very similar position back in those days. They were dying, and made the decision to buy NeXT to change OS directions. The primary consideration was the OS, not Jobs; they were apparently very close to buying BeOS instead. Jobs being the catalyst for strategic change happened to be a pleasant surprise. He didn't even become the CEO of Apple again until much later.
So, to be clear, even Apple wasn't Apple. Apple didn't reinvent itself. Apple bought NeXT to try to go a new direction; that is, innovation was acquired, not developed in-house. Looks like Nokia would be forced to do the same, judging from the mood around meego (or in this case, simply partner with an outsider).
