Nokia discovers SMS

So on my commute I go past a range of posters advertising this, that and the other. One of them that made me pause and think (but not in a good way) is for Nokia. It's a variation on the following:

Except, the poster I saw didn't have a headline. Just a person holding their phone with a line about stopping to buy milk on the way home and a web address.

Now if I go to the site I discover this is all about getting email, text and chat on your Nokia.

But let's stop and consider people's first impressions. They see someone holding a Blackberryesque phone with enormous text on the screen. The kind of SMS that people the world over send every day.

Has the iPhone (and all the other iPhone-like devices) taught Nokia nothing?

If I'm going to buy a smart phone, I expect something a lot more impressive than this. At a minimum, I expect sleek design, a range of apps and a really good screen. Not yesterday's news.

This is so sad when I consider that there was a time not so long ago when I viewed Nokia as a visionary brand rich in human empathy.

Hopefully this one is just a blip.