Hacker News Reader

Comment by brisance | Hacker News Reader

I fail to see how this is a wise business decision. Skype has been losing money for a long time, and with cheap/free competition like Google video chat and FaceTime etc, why would MSFT invest in this?

View on HN

I think you answered your own question: to compete with FaceTime and Google Voice. I think they're afraid to sit this race out the way they did mobile and get left behind again.

Is their own videoconferencing solution that broken to begin with? Seven billion is a big chunk of change. And tech M&As typically do not end well.

If Microsoft somehow owned both of those services, would it affect Microsoft's prospects? Certainly not. FaceTime is a gimmick that few people actually use use. Google Voice is bridge between soon-to-be legacy voicemail and cellphones and the future, which is unlikely to be owned by either Google or Microsoft. Neither business would help Microsoft grow again, and neither will Skype.

    FaceTime is a gimmick that few people actually use use.

Do you have any data to support this assertion?

My friend who lives far away has an iPhone. I have a mac, we use it all the time. I actually hate using Skype because some clown has my username. We use Skype at work, but I never get entrenched in a service if I don't get my username. Just a singular of data for you.

I haven't met in the flesh anyone who uses it regularly, and I know a lot of iPhone 4 owners. I'm sure there are people who do. It would be interesting to get some real data. My impression is, as with every video chat service for 30 years, it has very limited use because people just don't want to video chat most of the time.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com