Wrong. Skype was bullet proof, completely end-to-end encrypted, before the MS takeover.
Before Skype was acquired by Microsoft, several news articles suggested that it was possible for Skype to allow governments to monitor conversations.
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Speculation-over-...
But yes, if you made sure neither computer had NAT and used no super nodes it was possible to be pretty protected (except for the problem that PRISM is tied to the network hardware and can read anything anywhere on the internet).
After those I'm seriously considering moving back to a super primitive phone.
Nothing really smart, but adequate to make phone calls, send an sms and maybe containing a small, built in calendar.
Maybe keep a relatively cheap, WiFi capable smart phone to take on vacation in order to avoid dodgy internet cafes, when I want to send mail, book a flight, or reserve a hotel room on the go.
It has not even so much to do with the recent scandals (alas I am very privacy concious, I "deleted" my Facebook account and try to avoid Google as far as possible), but with the fact that the recent generation of smartphones, be it Android, or IOs, seem to own me and not vice versa.
I have not the faintest idea what's going on, what is installed and who relentlessly sucks up my most private data.
Sure, that doesn't work for everybody, but if I look at my own usage patterns I honestly believe it's fine for me. And the inconvenience far outweighs that queasy feeling I get with newer smartphones.