GLOBAL – We’ve been posting links to reactions from other blogs and publications on a pretty regular basis since the February 11 announcement that Nokia was planning to partner with Microsoft for its smartphone business. But there’s been an important voice missing from the list: that of Rafe Blandford, proprietor and editor-in-chief of All About Symbian. It turns out, though, that there was a good reason for the silence: he was thinking and writing.

Yesterday, Rafe turned in an exhaustive blog post on the deal. It’s a post that does a great job of explaining the ins and outs of the proposed partnership, so we thought it was well-worth giving it a special mention here on Conversations. Here’s a few soundbites to whet your appetite:

On going it alone:

It is instructive that neither of Nokia’s two major ecosystem competitors try do everything themselves.

On Android:

The subtle difference between joining and helping to build an ecosystem, and the associated value sharing that goes with each option, is ultimately what made a Nokia tie up with Google highly unlikely.

On the Microsoft partnership:

this mutual dependency is why I think Microsoft and Nokia will give everything they can to make this partnership succeed. And it’s why I think these two giants will ultimately find success together.

To understand why he thinks these things, you’ll have to read his post, of course. But speaking of soundbites, here’s a word from the man himself, summing up the main arguments.

All About Symbian’s Rafe Blandford on Nokia-Microsoft from Nokia Conversations on Vimeo.