I’ll be surprised if this isn’t the beginning of the end of the Skype we know and (mostly) love. Microsoft isn’t going to spend this much money on something that people mostly use for free.
Yep. Too bad, too. Skype is very useful and convenient. Once Microsoft gets through raping it, it will be neither.
Anyone remember when Hotmail was the No. 1 free email service?
There is an alternative to Skype, called Telcentris Voxox,
that exceeds Skype in many ways, and is also interopeable with the Skype APIs,
It also allows very cheap international calls, or free calls to other Voxox users. TOo many features to name, but I’ve switched over recently. Occassional problem with echos in the sound quality, but not often.
They spend a lot of money on IE and give it away free. It all depends on how well they can leverage it as a destination for development.
You mean like:
Internet Explorer (free)
.NET (free-and one heck of a develop enviroment)
Microsoft gives both of those away, but they serve the purpose of pushing people towards Microsoft operating systems.
My guess is they plan integrating Skype into their XBOX platform and leaving it free for other platforms (like phones and computers). The XBOX is a cash-cow for Microsoft. Skype would seem to be a great backbone for gamers to connect on. Especially when you consider an XBOX with Kinect.
Having Skype XBOX integration would be another (free) incentive to push people towards the XBOX platform (the same strategy they use with internet explorer and .NET).