Microsoft buys Skype, $8.5 billion

[thewayne]

A week ago I posted that Facebook and Google were jockeying to buy Skype. Looks like Redmond ended up being the big bid.

I don't like this. I can't see this boding well for people on non-MS OS platforms.

“Microsoft’s own software already has considerable overlap with Skype. Windows Live Messenger offers free instant messaging, and voice- and video-chat.“ So the benefit to MS is what? A replacement for Live Messenger? Does LM work on non-MS platforms? Will the replacement?

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/microsoft-buys-skype-2/

http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Skype-ing-out-an-open-source-future-1241617.html

http://gigaom.com/2011/05/09/why-microsoft-is-buying-skype-for-8-billion/

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/05/10/1244253/Microsoft-Buying-Skype-for-85B

Comments

[silveradept]

I wonder whether Microsoft decided they wanted to buy out a potential rival before it really did become a rival.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Google has their Voice app, so MS isn't denying something to them. FB would have benefited, now MS can deny them new sparklies. But it doesn't make a lot of sense to me for MS buying them unless whoever was in charge of the purchase thought they were actually hurting competitors.

[silveradept]

Yeah. Either that, or Microsoft really wanted those however many millions that use Skype to be on their platform instead. Or they just wanted to bury Skype so that it couldn't ever get big enough to challenge them. Doesn't seem to make sense, unless there's insider information we don't know about yet.