In case you missed it, Wired has a new piece out on the (very brief) history of Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, the article pulls all punches, and skates through some bizarre statements from Microsofties, including calling Kin "a worthwhile risk that resulted in important lessons," and the real head scratcher of the piece: "Software is like making a movie and building a skyscraper. You're not quite sure how it's going to stand until it comes out in the end." Still, we were glad to find this slide (pictured above) in the article's photo gallery, chronicling the journey of the Metro design language from Microsoft's ill-fated Portable Media Center, to the vaguely successful Zune products, and around at last to the newly available Windows Phone 7. A bit of comeuppance for 2004's ahead-of-its-time, PlaysForSure-laden iPod killer? We like to think so.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/08/m...e-media-cente/