Skype, one of the greatest internet companies to have come from Europe turned 8 yesterday. In all honesty when I saw that on a few blogs, I thought that it was not possible. Has it really been 8 years since they entered the market?
There are a few companies that have disrupted traditional services through ingenuity but Skype changed communication in a big way. Long distance communication is now simply; starting your notebook or PC and then opening Skype. The person with whom you wish to speak to is literally now on your screen. This is free if you have accepted him or her as a contact. You can also buy subscriptions to make phone calls at a discounted rate when comparing it to standard international phone calls.
Skype has gone through a rocky few years. After eBay acquired them, the idea was to enable communication between buyers and sellers using Skype’s peer-to-peer voice over Internet Protocol technology. It turned out to be a massive flop and ultimately after court cases and controversy the original owners / founders of the company bought it back from eBay.
They became an acquisition target as Google, Microsoft and facebook battled for ownership of the platform. Microsoft won in the end and subsequently own Skype. However Skype’s biggest advantage (low cost communication) has become its bigger obstacle in terms of revenue. Why would users pay for a service they have had for free for many years? I suspect we will see Microsoft doing various marketing stunts to ensure that they make some revenue from Skype.
I think it is almost a given that Microsoft Windows 7 will feature some element of video calling. The other mobile operating systems will have to watch as this could become a huge advantage for Windows Phone 7.
Happy Birthday Skype.. I hope there are many more.
