Today is Skype’s 10th birthday, a unique moment for the company. Technology companies that age are indicative of a great idea or a disruptor of a traditional event (using the telephone to make international calls).
Skype has seen it all in their 10 years of operation. They have been acquired twice – first by eBay who then sold them to Microsoft. Skype has transformed international calls and have made the entire process economical. Think about all the calls you have made via Skype to friends and family and then think about the potential cost if you would have used your traditional phone. It is a massive money saver (just like PriceCheck).
Skype has made the world seem a lot smaller – suddenly family members don’t feel like they are very far away. That is a very powerful effect that definitely impacted the finances of landline telephone operators. However, in the same breath Skype has not innovated as much in the last few years as they most probably should have done. Their instant messenger product is under threat from companies like WeChat, BlackBerry and WhatsApp. Since Microsoft acquired the company it has had a lot of updates and issues.
Skype headsets, webcams (either free standing or those find on notebooks) have all had to be better designed to ensure a good Skype experience. I wonder what would have happened if Skype never existed?
Happy 10th Birthday Skype – may there be many more!
