[*] Fallout of Skype purchase from Microsoft

Sean Walberg sean at ertw.com
Thu May 26 09:36:04 CDT 2011


Skype's advantages, IMHO:

1. It just works. No firewall problems, NAT headaches
2. Everyone has it. I have friends that don't have (or use) Google chat.
They all have Skype
3. It's easy to use. I taught my mother in law to use Google chat so we
could do video calls with the kids. Getting the plugin installed was a pain.
And I've had occasional conflicts with GoToMeeting.
4. Skype has better video and audio quality. There are some labs features
that improve Google, but I notice that Skype is much better. Plus it
integrates screen sharing and conferencing.

If Microsoft wanted to buy a VoIP client, they would have written it
themselves instead of spending $8B on it, or would have entered a licensing
deal with Skype or one of their bajillion competitors.

Sean

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 9:29 AM, John Lange <john at johnlange.ca> wrote:

> Personally I've always failed to see the appeal of skype since it's
> something that could be replicated using other voip related tools with
> the added benefit of being tied to a larger database of potential
> users that you could reach.
>
> For example, google voice does exactly the same thing and I'm sure
> there is probably a face book app and all kinds of other services that
> will be challenging their business especially for mobile devices. If
> Microsoft decides Skype is going to be a proprietary tool to boost
> Windows in some way, which seems likely given the cancellation of the
> Digium contract, it will fail.
>
> All of this is further evidence that Microsoft is beginning to slide
> and can't seem to figure out what to do.
>
> And word today that Skype is "down" world-wide.
>
> John
>
> On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Dan Keizer <ve4drk at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hey Bill -- sounds like a plausible explanation.
> > An interesting twitter post by Ward (aka nerdvittles) indicates that
> > Skype-Asterisk integration for free personal use is coming back ...
> > Dan.
> >
> > I just got an email from Digium stating that Skype for Asterisk will not
> be
> > available after July 26. The existing customers will be supported till
> July,
> > 2013.
> >
> > I assume this is a fallout of the Microsoft purchase, perhaps Microsoft
> > wants
> > the ability for SIP to Skype gateway to be an exclusive feature for their
> > own
> > Communicator product.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Asterisk mailing list
> > Asterisk at muug.mb.ca
> > http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/asterisk
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> John Lange
> www.johnlange.ca
> _______________________________________________
> Asterisk mailing list
> Asterisk at muug.mb.ca
> http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/asterisk
>



-- 
Sean Walberg <sean at ertw.com>    http://ertw.com/
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