The possibility of Nokia looking for a new CEO is difficult for me to accept. As the largest OEM in the business (depending on whether you're talking to Apple or not), granted without a real contender in the high-end market, Nokia always seemed to me like the global OEM, the OEM that bridged cultures and tackled the problems of the most technologically neglected portions of the globe. Sure it's been conspicuously absent in North America for years, but who cares? We've got first pick of the iPhone, as well as Motorola's Droid phones, right?

I've always thought that if Nokia were to really put its mind to it, this was the OEM to offer people a choice that could equal or even better the iPhone. Granted, my reasons for believing this were probably nostalgic. The first phone I ever owned was a Nokia. It hardly ever dropped a call and I swear that if I'd lobbed it into the street and let a bus roll over it, my Nokia would have withstood the abuse.

At any rate, my fondness for the Finnish OEM goes beyond just memories. As much as I've wished for a subsidized high-end smartphone that offers a viable alternative to the iPhone, I always kind of respected Nokia for being Nokia and turning a shoulder to the North American carriers. It made them, at least in my mind, seem above the banal fray of the constant "biggest, fastest, most dependable" bickering. They were profitable by selling millions of feature phones to emerging markets, without pandering to the West. There's something commendable in that. 

Alas, the market is changing. Nokia's stock is down 42 percent since April 19. Apparently investors tend to raise an eyebrow if you don't have a successful smartphone to supplement all the gazillion feature phones you're shipping to Africa, India and South America. 

When I've seen Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo present keynotes at CTIA or CES, he always seemed to come packing material that projected the idea that a company really can do good things in a world where profiteering is the norm. From mobile banking to a bicycle-powered phone charger for emerging markets, Kallasvuo always managed to capture my imagination with an aura of altruism.

I admit that Nokia plays the same game of cut-throat as do the rest of the gang. It wouldn't be where it is if it didn't. Still, it was nice to at least have it as the token good guy in the North. It was big, successful and had integrity, as well as a CEO whose name was hard to pronounce. No, adopting a new vision and a new leader won't necessarily mean Nokia will have to sacrifice any of itself, but in the end it probably will. As calls for a Silicon Valley-minded leader grow, Nokia might be tempted to go with a high-priced and flashy Westerner, a guy with an easily pronounceable name, a cowboy hat and dollar signs in his eyes.

I realize this is all my own little fantasy projected on an industry that in the end is all about profit. Still, I think Nokia really does have altruistic roots and a truly unique business. In the end, I just hope Nokia can find a CEO who understands and can maintain the company's global vision, while managing to conjure up a little magic to excite the West as well as investors.