Skype's advantages, IMHO:<div><br></div><div>1. It just works. No firewall problems, NAT headaches</div><div>2. Everyone has it. I have friends that don't have (or use) Google chat. They all have Skype</div><div>3. It's easy to use. I taught my mother in law to use Google chat so we could do video calls with the kids. Getting the plugin installed was a pain. And I've had occasional conflicts with GoToMeeting. </div>
<div>4. Skype has better video and audio quality. There are some labs features that improve Google, but I notice that Skype is much better. Plus it integrates screen sharing and conferencing.</div><div><br></div><div>If Microsoft wanted to buy a VoIP client, they would have written it themselves instead of spending $8B on it, or would have entered a licensing deal with Skype or one of their bajillion competitors. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Sean<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 9:29 AM, John Lange <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:john@johnlange.ca">john@johnlange.ca</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Personally I've always failed to see the appeal of skype since it's<br>
something that could be replicated using other voip related tools with<br>
the added benefit of being tied to a larger database of potential<br>
users that you could reach.<br>
<br>
For example, google voice does exactly the same thing and I'm sure<br>
there is probably a face book app and all kinds of other services that<br>
will be challenging their business especially for mobile devices. If<br>
Microsoft decides Skype is going to be a proprietary tool to boost<br>
Windows in some way, which seems likely given the cancellation of the<br>
Digium contract, it will fail.<br>
<br>
All of this is further evidence that Microsoft is beginning to slide<br>
and can't seem to figure out what to do.<br>
<br>
And word today that Skype is "down" world-wide.<br>
<br>
John<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Dan Keizer <<a href="mailto:ve4drk@gmail.com">ve4drk@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> Hey Bill -- sounds like a plausible explanation.<br>
> An interesting twitter post by Ward (aka nerdvittles) indicates that<br>
> Skype-Asterisk integration for free personal use is coming back ...<br>
> Dan.<br>
><br>
> I just got an email from Digium stating that Skype for Asterisk will not be<br>
> available after July 26. The existing customers will be supported till July,<br>
> 2013.<br>
><br>
> I assume this is a fallout of the Microsoft purchase, perhaps Microsoft<br>
> wants<br>
> the ability for SIP to Skype gateway to be an exclusive feature for their<br>
> own<br>
> Communicator product.<br>
><br>
</div></div><div class="im">> _______________________________________________<br>
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><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div><font color="#888888">--<br>
John Lange<br>
<a href="http://www.johnlange.ca" target="_blank">www.johnlange.ca</a><br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Sean Walberg <<a href="mailto:sean@ertw.com" target="_blank">sean@ertw.com</a>> <a href="http://ertw.com/" target="_blank">http://ertw.com/</a><br>
</div>