Microsoft Buying Skype

11:57 pm EST May 9th, 2011 | Tech | 3 Comments

6D5B3FA0-9489-48DD-8957-3337D4A8EA30.jpgMicrosoft is apparently buying Skype. My guess is they’re overpaying for it like EBay did. I like Skype, and sometimes use it — but the same or similar technology exists for one-to-one video communication in Google Chat, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and yes, Microsoft’s own Messenger.

What is Microsoft doing? They’ve done a poor job lately integrating outside companies that they’ve purchased (eg. Sidekick) and they’ve stagnated as a company. They can always count on Windows and Office upgrades to keep them well stocked in cash, but their lack of innovation feels more like Detroit than what Redmond used to be.

Related Posts

  • No Related Post
«
»

3 Responses to “Microsoft Buying Skype”

  1. Thad says:
    May 10, 2011 at 12:32 am

    …okay, when has MS EVER innovated?

    And no, changing “Trash” to “Recycle Bin” does not count.

  2. jbl says:
    May 10, 2011 at 3:11 am

    As an acquaintance tweeted, “What? Microsoft buying Skype? Must be because they demonstrated it can host a terrible bug allowing a major worm to propagate over the net.” (@TheRealSpaf on Twitter)

  3. Buzz Killington says:
    May 10, 2011 at 8:07 am

    Indeed, they key to Microsoft’s success has always been cornering markets, then milking them. I’ve never thought of Microsoft as a particularly innovative company… even Windows, Gates sort of just ripped off from Xerox.