[mbreese]

In which case, for Elop, running Nokia really was the trial run that everyone feared it was when he started. The end-game was for him to be in position to take over Microsoft when Balmer stepped down. I guess he passed Microsoft's test then...

[leaffig]

Nokia's board is the one that hired Elop away from Microsoft and was behind his every major decision. So I think the plans were set in motion at Nokia before Elop was even hired.

Read up this guy's profile, do you really think he would approve hiring Elop just like that without such an eventuality in sight?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorma_Ollila

[mbreese]

Oh, no, I agree... this was all set in motion years ago, and it's all now coming to fruition. I just remember thinking at the time that this all seemed a little too pre-planned. I'm just amazed that it really seems to be happening as expected. Nokia's board knew that this was a very real possibility when Elop was hired.

The real question will be what Elop's role back in Microsoft will be. If he ends up succeeding Balmer, everything that was predicted 3 years ago will end up coming true. I thought it was far-fetched that Nokia was really just the warm-up act to taking over Microsoft. But if that is really what happens, it was certainly foreseeable.