http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/microsoft-pays-us85b-for-skype-20110511-1ehqf.html
They better not make it a paid service.
They better not make it a paid service.
Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5b
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
^ 8.5b for a business that loses money probably means it will be "restructured"
I don't know how they're going to use Skype, but it intuitively feels like a good move, even if the price is eye-watering. Skype feels like a good complement for integration into Office, Xbox Live, as well as possibly even Windows Phone. This feels like a genuinely global cross-platform play, which is something Microsoft definitely need to do given their share price stagnation over the past decade. Colour me intrigued as to how they're going to leverage its value.
Microsoft has already got Communicator, Lync and a couple of other IM and chat programs. Unless they rip them all up, tape them together and produce a bigger, better product I can't see why they'd do it.
Then again, I'm not an economist.
Then again, I'm not an economist.
Microsoft have already got a product for intergration with office that does what Skype does - used to be called Office Communications Server but is now called Lync.
And people are concerned over whether Skype will remain truly cross Platform.
Skype clients are available for :-
Windows
Windows Mobile/Mobile 7
OS X
Linux
iOS
Android
Symbian
PSP
Blackberry
But will it stay that way because Windows and Xbox don't count for much as cross-platform/
^ but do any of them have the market penetration, proven resiliency and positive branding of Skype though? That, I suspect, is what Microsoft is buying, not technology as such. Jokes aside, Microsoft can do technology just fine, generally. What it's lacked recently is global integration, as a result of overdependence on Windows and Office. I bet Skype gets used as part of a drive to integrate the various MS products together.
It's frankly shocking how little Microsoft has been able to leverage its still near-ubiquity on PCs into other platforms. But if you look at buying Skype in the same "box" as the tie up with Nokia, and in conjunction with Xbox Live and Office, you can start to see the outline of something potentially very dominant down the line. They need to get a fucking move on though, because they've left it late in the game.
It's frankly shocking how little Microsoft has been able to leverage its still near-ubiquity on PCs into other platforms. But if you look at buying Skype in the same "box" as the tie up with Nokia, and in conjunction with Xbox Live and Office, you can start to see the outline of something potentially very dominant down the line. They need to get a fucking move on though, because they've left it late in the game.
Microsoft has already got Communicator, Lync and a couple of other IM and chat programs. Unless they rip them all up, tape them together and produce a bigger, better product I can't see why they'd do it.
Then again, I'm not an economist.
It may also be that Skype is the only well known communication thing of it's kind, and they're buying it mostly for the name. They're likely to now reimagine their own products as 'Microsoft Skype', which would put their company in a strong position to corner this market.
They may also have bought it to prevent a rival from buying it and trying the same thing... even though 'Apple Skype' sounds like some sort of health drink.
Microsoft has already got Communicator, Lync and a couple of other IM and chat programs. Unless they rip them all up, tape them together and produce a bigger, better product I can't see why they'd do it.
Then again, I'm not an economist.
It may also be that the Skype is the only well known communication thing of it's kind, and they're buying it mostly for the name. They're likely to now reimagine their own products as 'Microsoft Skype', which would put their company in a strong position to corner this market.
They may also have bought it to prevent a rival from buying it and trying the same thing... even though 'Apple Skype' sounds like some sort of health drink.
Don't think Apple was ever that into, but Facebook was and that might have been more worrysome for Microsoft.
Microsoft has already got Communicator, Lync and a couple of other IM and chat programs. Unless they rip them all up, tape them together and produce a bigger, better product I can't see why they'd do it.
Then again, I'm not an economist.
It may also be that the Skype is the only well known communication thing of it's kind, and they're buying it mostly for the name. They're likely to now reimagine their own products as 'Microsoft Skype', which would put their company in a strong position to corner this market.
They may also have bought it to prevent a rival from buying it and trying the same thing... even though 'Apple Skype' sounds like some sort of health drink.
Don't think Apple was ever that into, but Facebook was and that might have been more worrysome for Microsoft.
Apple's been pushing it's Facetime HD quite a bit so I think to suddenly turn around and go after Skype isn't in their market strategy.
Microsoft and the N.Y. Yankee's operate on the same business philosophy " why compete with it when we can buy it! " I have used skype a few times for calls, the rates are ok, but most cell phone international plans are far cheaper long term, it was,however, a nice back-up for my landline ( remember those? ) I still have it installed but don't use it much as some of my friends here will attest to lol.
Microsoft purchased the name. And after Skype's embarrasing meltdown last year I'm happy to see it go somewhere else. Hopefully Microsoft leaves the creative team in place and just provides a little more stability. Having said that, I would have preferred a Google acquisition, because it would mean merging Skype and Voice and having a lean, stable desktop client for both.
?? I still use mine all the time. Then again I hardly use my cell.
I'm pleased they didn't buy it. Google are possibly less liked than microsoft :- google bought youtube and then messed it up. They keep messing with their search engine ~ the autosearch feature is disliked by many. There are never as many results as they say there are, and you're lucky to get 5 pages. There used to be lots more. Their image search is clunky and doesn't work properly half the time. There was controversy with their maps service as people felt their privacy was being invaded. There was the controversy in england with them cataloguing people's home wifi and passwords. Remember how successful google wave was? google messes up what it touches.
Eh, I don't think Google is as bad as you are saying. There are of course some issues with the things you mentioned (and Google Wave was just a misfire in general) but I've found it's mostly that the "Google Mothership" makes for a very large target now that it does have its hands in everything. Gmail, Google Maps/Earth, Calendars, Apps and Docs have been a godsend to small businesses everywhere and linked students and professionals in ways we only dreamed of before. Of course there are issues of privacy and general critiques over some of their acquisitions, but ultimately Google has been a positive force for innovation. And on an interesting note, they create a quality work environment for their thousands of employees.
Windows has a phone?
The integration into MS office is a ++ for them but MS has a terrible track record in creating hardware that is popular [save X-Box].
And Skype is a social network, how? They're completely different things. Skype has more in common with instant messaging clients.
Anyhow, this aquisition makes me nervous about how MS will change Skype.
