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From: Alan Ralph <usenet@alanralph.co.uk>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps,comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: [NEWS] Microsoft to shut down Skype
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2025 10:58:46 -0000 (UTC)
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On 28 Feb 2025 at 23:20:19 GMT, "Your Name" <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

> 
> Another product bought up by a big tech business and (eventually)
> closed down in favour of their own product, and another third-party
> product destroyed by Microsloth buying it up.  :-\

I haven't kept tabs on who's leading between MS & Google in numbers of
third-party apps bought, left to rot then eventually killed off. Google would
take gold easily if you added in all the home-grown apps & services that have
popped up over the years and popped their clogs a few years later. Yes, Yahoo
should be included as well, but I think even their record would only get them
a bronze medal.

>    Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion in what was
>     then its largest-ever acquisition. At its peak, Skype had more
>     than 300 million monthly active users and was synonymous with
>     internet-based voice and video calling. The service steadily
>     declined in relevance in recent years, with its active user
>     base shrinking to approximately 36 million by 2023 as
>     competitors such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft's own Teams
>     platform gained traction.
> 
>    [...]
> 
>     Skype played a key role in popularizing VoIP (Voice over
>     Internet Protocol) technology, enabling businesses and
>     individuals to connect around the world with minimal costs. It
>     also served as an early testbed for AI-powered real-time
>     language translation, a feature Microsoft showcased in a widely
>     publicized demonstration in 2014. However, its frequent UI
>     changes, reliability issues, ill-conceived social media-like
>     features, gradual shift toward enterprise, and inability to
>     keep pace with newer competitors, especially during the
>     COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately led to its obsolescence.

While I disliked what Skype became in its latter years, there's no denying it
was a game-changer product when it came out in the 2000s, and a survivor of
efforts by incumbent telcos to stave off the thread of VOIP to their positions
and profits by whatever means possible.