I hadn't noticed how disastrous Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia turned out to be. According to this article, along with the $7.1 billion purchase price, which has been written off entirely, 30,500 people have lost their jobs.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it's hard to believe that Nokia would have done worse if it had remained independent.

Nokia did remain independent. They just sold the mobile division to Microsoft, along with a time-limited license for their brand.

They are getting back into the tablet and phone market now: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-branded-android-s...