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Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

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Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#111

Post by Luyt »

jsz0 wrote: post #87

This is Microsoft's ICQ moment. Overpaying for a company at the moment when its core competency is becoming a commodity. Does anyone have the slightest bit of loyalty to Skype? Of course not. They're going to use whichever video chat comes built into their SmartPhone, tablet, computer, etc. They're going to use FaceBook's eventual video chat service or something Google offers. No one is going to actively seek out Sky…

"With $7B they should have just given away about 15 million Windows Mobile phones in the form of an epic PR stunt."

This instantly reminds me of the CueCat [1], which Wired sent out to half a million subscribers. I admit, a phone (even a WP7 one) could be a million times more useful than a CueCat ;-)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuecat [2] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000037.html

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#112

Post by jcampbell1 »

d_r wrote: post #96
jcampbell1 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is Microsoft's ICQ moment Is that a reference to ICQ's "Uh-oh"? If so, I fully agree. If Apple stock is priced to perfection, MSFT is priced to stupidity. This kind of wasted earnings is exactly why Microsoft stock sells at a mere 10x earnings. Investors are fully aware that a large portion of all future earnings will be wasted.

I think this is a reference to AOL buying ICQ.

I don't understand. AOL bought ICQ for 400M, got patent exclusivity to IM for some time, sold a bazillion ad dollars during the dotcom boom through the ICQ client, and then sold the company recently for 200M. I am sure AOL came out ahead on that deal. What is an ICQ moment?

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#113

Post by pedalpete »

savrajsingh wrote: post #88
boyter wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. I would hazard a guess that a this is a mindshare acquisition not technology. It might be branded as "Microsoft Skype" but to drop the name Skype would be a seriously stupid move, and Microsoft is anything but stupid. Bureaucratic yes, but not stupid.

Foldershare was a good name. What happened to that? :)

Yup, it became 'Microsoft live sync', oh... what does that do? Lets you share your folders!

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#114

Post by Luyt »

LarryA wrote: post #63
mgkimsal wrote: post #13

A few thoughts: When we see the mac version stagnate, we won't be able to say MS has sabotaged it - skype did that before on their own. The linux version has never been on parity with the others - will it be officially killed? Might MS actually put resources in to it to make it work as well as the others? Overall, good on MS for doing this. I'm assuming this may bring on some more interesting dynamics to the google v…

Here's what will happen: After acquisition, MS will put out a lot of PR saying that cross-platform is "very important" in this new acquisition, they will even release an updated version on cross-platform. ...of course that update will be screwed up as it has been "fixed" to make all versions more "windows friendly" at the expense of features that may be better on other platforms (i.e. scrap the Mac interface, kill op…

I agree, but you forgot one thing they'll undoubtely do: they'll change the underlying protocol, so that existing Mac and Linux clients will not work with the Skype network anymore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#115

Post by dorian-graph »

mgkimsal wrote: post #13

A few thoughts: When we see the mac version stagnate, we won't be able to say MS has sabotaged it - skype did that before on their own. The linux version has never been on parity with the others - will it be officially killed? Might MS actually put resources in to it to make it work as well as the others? Overall, good on MS for doing this. I'm assuming this may bring on some more interesting dynamics to the google v…

Perhaps the Mac version won't stagnate? Maybe Microsoft will update it like it does other Mac software like Office.

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#117

Post by guywithabike »

aneth wrote: post #76
lotusleaf1987 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you answered your own question: to compete with FaceTime and Google Voice. I think they're afraid to sit this race out the way they did mobile and get left behind again.

If Microsoft somehow owned both of those services, would it affect Microsoft's prospects? Certainly not. FaceTime is a gimmick that few people actually use use. Google Voice is bridge between soon-to-be legacy voicemail and cellphones and the future, which is unlikely to be owned by either Google or Microsoft. Neither business would help Microsoft grow again, and neither will Skype.

    FaceTime is a gimmick that few people actually use use.
Do you have any data to support this assertion?

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#118

Post by codelion »

lurker19 wrote: post #83
natesm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's probably best, after what they did to the Mac one.

Skype 2.8 for Mac exists and is from better user experience than any Windows or Linux version.

Surely, you are not aware what is a better user experience.

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#119

Post by ecoffey »

Luyt wrote: post #111
jsz0 wrote: post #87

This is Microsoft's ICQ moment. Overpaying for a company at the moment when its core competency is becoming a commodity. Does anyone have the slightest bit of loyalty to Skype? Of course not. They're going to use whichever video chat comes built into their SmartPhone, tablet, computer, etc. They're going to use FaceBook's eventual video chat service or something Google offers. No one is going to actively seek out Sky…

"With $7B they should have just given away about 15 million Windows Mobile phones in the form of an epic PR stunt." This instantly reminds me of the CueCat [1], which Wired sent out to half a million subscribers. I admit, a phone (even a WP7 one) could be a million times more useful than a CueCat ;-) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuecat [2] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000037.html

Really interesting reading that Joel on Software now. Had me thinking of the Jimmy Fallon skit where someone held up a QR code in the background that I scanned with my phone, opened in mobile youtube, and I was watching more content.

Re: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7 billion

#120

Post by cookiecaper »

joshzayin wrote: post #4

If this goes through, I wonder what would happen to Skype's Linux and Mac support. I'd hope MS would still support it, but I don't think they have any Linux software currently (I'm not positive about that, so please correct me if I'm wrong) and the Mac version of Office is always delayed compared to the Windows version. I hope Skype doesn't similarly languish.

There really isn't anything better on Linux, sadly. I wrote a longer comment about this a few days ago, but the gist is that Skype is the only semi-reliable video chat/SIP client for Linux, even factoring in serious neglect from Skype Inc. for the platform.

This acquisition probably is the final nail in the coffin for Skype's hypothetical open-source Linux client.

I don't have high hopes at all that alternate versions of Skype will be kept up very long. Everything Microsoft does eventually leads back to Windows or Office.

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