Om Malik:
However, its position at the top isn’t cemented. There are dozens of upstarts who want to eat into Skype’s future growth.
I don’t think there was ever a time when I liked Skype. It’s necessary sometimes, but I’d gladly use a startup that knew how to build software.
I’m still flabbergasted by how many companies have been destroyed, neutered or currently falling apart since the iPhone came out in ’07.
What’s scary for other companies is that we haven’t even begun to see the full impact of the iPad yet.
Skype has only been getting worse with every new release. While it has voice great quality it really is a terribly designed application.
I used to be a heavy user of Skype during my semester abroad.
Today I regard Skype as a necessary evil. My disdain for it grows and even though it hasn’t reached ICQ levels of disdain yet, I concur with Jim.
Give me a good piece of software, a good implementation of video and voice and name a price.
I beg to differ. Skype saved my butt (or rather my wallet) when it came out in beta over a decade ago and I was able to communicate with my then fiancée for free from abroad. At the time international calling was so expensive I can’t even imagine what would have happened to our finances if Skype didn’t come out. I certainly don’t like the bloated piece garbage it has become once it was sold to eBay but I will always be grateful for it in its early years on the market. There was nothing else as good and free at the time.