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Microsoft to Acquire Skype for $8.5 Billion
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LOL at all the comments about how Apple screws up too, as if that somehow makes it OK for Microsoft to screw up. Logic 101, people. You are indirectly admitting that Microsoft screws up.
Forbes:
The Forbes author then writes an entire article trying to justify the price by throwing ideas against the wall to see if any of them stick. Laughable.
Forbes:
The Forbes author then writes an entire article trying to justify the price by throwing ideas against the wall to see if any of them stick. Laughable.
Every time I use Skype call quality is terrible.
Contacting Skype itself is impossible. For a telephony company to not want anyone to contact them is very poor form.
It's such a poor service now that Microsoft's involvement can only help improve things.
My only surprise is why they are calling it Microsoft Skype Divison rather than communications division as everyone I know thinks Skype is poor so the brand has zero goodwill at all.
Contacting Skype itself is impossible. For a telephony company to not want anyone to contact them is very poor form.
It's such a poor service now that Microsoft's involvement can only help improve things.
My only surprise is why they are calling it Microsoft Skype Divison rather than communications division as everyone I know thinks Skype is poor so the brand has zero goodwill at all.
It's a good acquisition for Microsoft. They can integrate it into Windows Mobile and make it a service on Xbox Live for example. I'd imagine we will see Windows Live Messenger with integrated Skpe later in the year.
I expect many people here would be delighted if Apple had bought them, but the same people only find negatives to say when someone else does.
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I don't get how MSFT will ever get their investment back with this deal, let alone make any money from it.
Skype has a very small amount of paying users and the ancient idea of video chat replacing phone calls or text chats on a wide scale has already been buried many years ago. Prices for communication have gone down so much in the last 10 years and I don't see how MSFT could change that. The current 600 million+ user base can grow tenfold and the service would still never pay for itself.
Integrating Skype into Xbox Live is a nice little idea, but no one's gonna pay a single dime to call grandma from their Xbox.
My only guess is that they're trying to get the money from their corporate customers. But why didn't they just push something they developed in-house for that purpose, that would be A LOT cheaper? Companies give a rat's ass about the installed user base of some 3rd party service since they're all using Windows clients and servers anyway.
The conclusion can only be that they bought the user base. But to do what? How do you get 600 million people to pay for something they can get for free everywhere else? Chances are that these users are already using Windows and Office, so they can't even leverage or strengthen their monopolies.
My guess: this will go down in history as a huge waste of money.
Skype has a very small amount of paying users and the ancient idea of video chat replacing phone calls or text chats on a wide scale has already been buried many years ago. Prices for communication have gone down so much in the last 10 years and I don't see how MSFT could change that. The current 600 million+ user base can grow tenfold and the service would still never pay for itself.
Integrating Skype into Xbox Live is a nice little idea, but no one's gonna pay a single dime to call grandma from their Xbox.
My only guess is that they're trying to get the money from their corporate customers. But why didn't they just push something they developed in-house for that purpose, that would be A LOT cheaper? Companies give a rat's ass about the installed user base of some 3rd party service since they're all using Windows clients and servers anyway.
The conclusion can only be that they bought the user base. But to do what? How do you get 600 million people to pay for something they can get for free everywhere else? Chances are that these users are already using Windows and Office, so they can't even leverage or strengthen their monopolies.
My guess: this will go down in history as a huge waste of money.
Without even looking, I can tell there's an insane amount of the usual MS hate from the fanboys. Buuuut in this case, as a Windows/PC user I can actually agree; I see no good coming from this acquisition. I predict the next MS-flavoured iteration of Skype will be more along the lines of that hideous abomination otherwise known as Live Messenger 2011. I prefer the current Skype far more than MSN. Better features, better call quality, better UI, etc.
Also, looks like you can kiss Skype.app goodbye
Also, looks like you can kiss Skype.app goodbye
Virtual PC for Mac is a different kettle of fish than just abandoning it. The whole Intel transition threw a major spanner in the works which would have messed up VPC for Mac regardless of who owned it, having to completely rebuild it over from scratch. Not their fault. I dare say there were few other apps whose entire codebase was rendered useless by the transition as VPC. And to their credit, they continued to sell VPC for Mac 7.x to PowerPC users for some time.
VPC for Windows is now part of Windows 7's support for legacy apps, and alive and kicking as Virtual Server for Microsoft's server virtualization solution.
So you can remove that from your list.
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Because Apple would turn it into something everybody loves and wants to use and Microsoft will turn it into something everybody hates but has no choice whether to use.
jessea said:
Because Apple would turn it into something everybody loves and wants to use and Microsoft will turn it into something everybody hates but has no choice whether to use.
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I can see the usefulness to it...but 8.5 billion for a company that makes very little money. I know I know, they paid 500 million for Skype and 8 billion for their rolodex.
Steve121178 said:
I can see the usefulness to it...but 8.5 billion for a company that makes very little money. I know I know, they paid 500 million for Skype and 8 billion for their rolodex.
IDK how Skype has lasted this long as a free service but I doubt things will stay "status quo" with this level of investment.
I'm not saying it will become a fee service, but I'm wondering if my Xbox will be happier while my iPad/eventual Mac, not so much (but I guess that's what FaceTime is for).
MS had to pay a premium to get them, and it is kind of to "catch up" to similar offerings that Apple and Google have.
I'm not saying it will become a fee service, but I'm wondering if my Xbox will be happier while my iPad/eventual Mac, not so much (but I guess that's what FaceTime is for).
MS had to pay a premium to get them, and it is kind of to "catch up" to similar offerings that Apple and Google have.
skype will end up just like icq. once popular, and then only used by people in third world countries.
Apple has squandered FaceTime. They could have opened up the API and allowed a Windows client, amongst others. As it stands I have zero use for FaceTime. (Yes I realize Skype is proprietary as well but the fact remains they have produced clients for most everything.)
Skype works cross-platform and is everywhere. You even see Skype's logo on new flat screen TV's. It is ubiquitous and that's what Microsoft is really paying for. Someone on here said Skype's brand was worthless, I would disagree. How many millions are online using Skype at any given time? Many TV stations now uses Skype for remote shots and call-ins (often displaying the Skype logo on screen).
I think I'll reserve judgement until we see what Microsoft does with it. No reason to jump the shark here.
Skype works cross-platform and is everywhere. You even see Skype's logo on new flat screen TV's. It is ubiquitous and that's what Microsoft is really paying for. Someone on here said Skype's brand was worthless, I would disagree. How many millions are online using Skype at any given time? Many TV stations now uses Skype for remote shots and call-ins (often displaying the Skype logo on screen).
I think I'll reserve judgement until we see what Microsoft does with it. No reason to jump the shark here.
Kind of like how they kept updating IE for Mac. And kept Office in sync with the Windows version. And Microsoft BASIC. etc.
Not going to suggest they rival MS, but I seem to recall a little software acquisition from NothingReal....
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Name 1 acquisition Microsoft have made and improved on?
toddybody said:
Name 1 acquisition Microsoft have made and improved on?
console sales are software driven. wii is not the leader in hardware:console - there's a reason why nintendo is announcing another console next month, and that's because they aren't bringing is as much money as they could be. Microsoft is dominant in software, services, innovation (by far) and accessories and the last year the 360 has been gaining significant traction
just glancing and the NPD chart gives you an idea but it doesn't tell you the whole story of what's occurring.
Web TV - turned to ultimate Tv turned into Media Center / Media Room (IPTV)
It goes to the Wii based on sheer sales numbers? That's a surprising conclusion on an Apple website.
Xbox has been profitable for nearly 3.5 years now (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/xbox-goes-profitable-almost-like-a-grown-up-business/).
So I was slightly off about the date when the Xbox broke even. Big deal. It still means it's been making zero money for the first SEVEN years, instead taking away development resources and attention. It's been a terrible investment. That's not even the worst: The amount of money the Xbox is making since then is still ridiculous. They've had several quarters in which the division was deep in the red and the rest of the year was just making up for that.
Wii sold much more in consoles and games than all Xboxes combined and Nintendo made much more money off of it. Also, the Wii revitalized a stalled market that was focused on nerdy, hardcore gamers.
Huh? What are you rambling about? Stereotype much? I play video games and to your great surprise, I also play basketball, hike, surf, powerlift, etc... Oh, and sometimes I watch movies yet I'm not fat all. In fact I'm trying to gain weight.