It's probably worth noting Michael Dell's interview CNBC (covered here by AllThingsD) where he talks about Dell's plans for the future when Dell returns to private ownership. Those plans do not include a Windows Phone smartphone, or any smartphone. The focus will be on providing services and back-end infrastructure for mobiles.

While Dell were around at the start of the Windows Phone world, with the Dell Venue Pro, the handset was never widely distributed, and Dell quietly withdrew from the market as quietly as they entered. Where is the focus going now?

"We’re not getting in the mobile phone business... Every time a new mobile company gets born, they need servers and infrastructure and storage,” Dell told CNBC. "Companies need to protect and secure their data on these mobile devices."

So mark this one down in the 'we expected to hear this' column, raise a glass to absent friends with a physical 'qwerty' keyboard, and move on.