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Microsoft is killing Skype

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Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#281

Post by sjm-lbm »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #275
grandpoobah wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget MSN Messenger was discontinued/merged into Skype. So they fucked it not once, but twice. Literally handed over their dominant position in instant messaging for nothing.

Wait - what about MS Lync/Office Communicator? I don't remember if that was just a branding change of "MSN Messenger for Business" about the time right before the Skype acquisition, or folding in (and failing with) yet another IM/Video chat solution. So should the count actually be three?

Yeah, it's actually three, though only from a branding perspective. They did rebrand Lync/Office Communicator as "Skype for Business" for a bit, though I don't think there was ever any code shared and it was just a branding thing.

Honestly I think they simply don't care, and from their perspective they finally have gotten it right with Teams.

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#283

Post by bloomingkales »

mrintegrity wrote: post #190
high_na_euv wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Missed? They grew Teams, lol. Zoom - wtf, who the hell uses it after. Discord would be better example since it is huge, even LLVM community uses it

Discord missed an opportunity to become the video calling and chat king, the smoothness of joining and leaving a group video chat when you please and the high quality video, audio and app support was exactly the kind of "just like being in the office but virtual" experience that teams, skype, slack, zoom, meet, etc lack. During peak covid it was a godsend having calls with friends and playing games together. My dream…

Gaming laptops today are the best AI laptops. They will never sell as well to the masses because they have a gaming aesthetic. This is true for Discord as well. Skinning HN like it's Facebook will turn you off, even if it has the content you want believe it or not.

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#284

Post by linwangg »

I still use Skype, mainly out of habit, but I guess it's finally time to move on. Telegram seems like the best alternative for me, but I wonder—what are others switching to? Feels like every few years, we have to migrate to a new chat platform.

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#285

Post by lbourdages »

Anyone knows of an alternative to Skype to make free calls to 1-800 numbers? I was keeping Skype in my back pocket during trips abroad for that exact reason (allowed me to get away with using data only eSIMs and still be able to call bank/airline if something happens).

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#286

Post by wccrawford »

bloomingkales wrote: post #258

What happened? It's kind of hard to fuck up a chat app. The Skype ring tone is iconic.

I vaguely remember they making unusable in some situation that many people wanted, and people drifted away from it.

Combined with not advertising it at all recently, and other services taking the spotlight ("Let's facetime!"), I'm not surprised that people have largely stopped using it.

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#289

Post by pcl »

lbourdages wrote: post #285

Anyone knows of an alternative to Skype to make free calls to 1-800 numbers? I was keeping Skype in my back pocket during trips abroad for that exact reason (allowed me to get away with using data only eSIMs and still be able to call bank/airline if something happens).

Google Voice is pretty cheap for that use case.

Re: Microsoft is killing Skype

#290

Post by legitster »

Someone wrote: post #277
legitster wrote: post #270

Skype is the epitome of technical debt. Millions of lines of code for a service that isn't technically difficult to provide anymore. When I was at Microsoft, I was told working on Skype was about as popular as being sent to a gulag. The value of the brand is so strong, I am surprised they never launched a "2.0" version built from scratch and without all the vestigial tails.

“Skype for Business” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype_for_Business ) sort-of was that. It put the “Skype” brand on “Lync”, which was a rebranded “Office Communicator” (IIRC, there were some technical changes along the line, too, but I may misremember that) It got replaced by Teams.

And Skype had to maintain compatibility with many of these services that came and went.
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