"But what if the company were to just chuck all of its flailing efforts and buy a relatively cheap and nimble device developer, "

Sounds good to me.  I'm sure they've heard of EDIG, and if not, they will over the next year or two.  Imagine getting a cheap (cheap to msft) and nimble device developer and a key patent portfolio in the process....

just food for thought.  Creative was one of EDIG's big competitors back in the day. 

It's nice to know EDIG's problems went well beyond just EDIG, though many would like to present it differently.