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stuffradioMay 10, 2011
Wow, us Canadians are smart... we made 4 billion dollars on this deal! :) It goes to the Canada Pension Plan.
mcfriendlyMay 10, 2011
Would you send me some "citizenship application papers?"
mstrdiggMay 11, 2011
What is this crazy "pension" thing you speak of?
coffeeroxMay 11, 2011
This account has been closed by the user
stuffradioMay 11, 2011
The same reason Americans have to chant, "USA! USA!" when something happens. Get over it.
coffeeroxMay 11, 2011
This account has been closed by the user
stuffradioMay 11, 2011
lol, also you don't do it only at sporting events. Americans were chanting "USA! USA!" when Obama announced Osama was dead. So it's not different at all.
coffeeroxMay 11, 2011
This account has been closed by the user
stuffradioMay 11, 2011
We shouldn't even be arguing about this. Americans don't like it when other countries are patriotic about their own countries. That's all it is, patriotism. I don't understand why I'm not allowed to be patriotic and proud of what my country does. Although, this is not exactly an emotional thing, it's an example of what Americans have been getting mad at me about when I say I'm happy Canada did something or a section of Canada did something.
crazedleperMay 11, 2011
@coffeerox2 said:
"That was an American achievement since he was the one that is responsible for the 9/11 attacks."
No, he was not. You have much research to do. I suggest you get started before the TSA "protects" you from finding out the truth about 9/11.
hadphildMay 10, 2011
First Xbox + Kinect = Video conference from home. Second Windows phone could get a great boost with IM, VOIP and Video Conference. Third getting skype tech in exchange server could be a game change for SMB. Micorsoft has alot of xboxs in homes and being able to sell them to business could be a BIG boom.
crazedleperMay 11, 2011
Xboxes is businesses? You don't have a job, do you?
hadphildMay 16, 2011
I think you missed to point. If you could sell a business version of the Xbox with Skype. Then boardroom would have a very easy interface and cheap. For something that normally costs thousands.
crazedleperMay 17, 2011
Fine theory but corporations are slow to adapt. They've had the technology (and the need) for IM, video chat, telephone USB interfaces with computers, wireless printing and other technologies for years and all these potentials are going largely ignored. I'm a software trainer and I know from experience that people fear change. The people making the decisions tend to be luddites who haven't even figured out how to print, reliably.
Even if your suggestion is what Micro$oft has in mind, it's unlikely to see significant adoption in the workplace. M$ft will have yet another costly and embarrassing failure to its credit. Now that I look at it that way, maybe you're right.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
goweigusMay 10, 2011
I'd rather it be Microsoft than Facebook
WiseConsultancyMay 10, 2011
Microsoft are beginning to reinvent themselves, but always seem to be a little behind. Lucky for them they have the funds to be able to play the catch up game rather well.
charlotte_webMay 10, 2011
Problem is, they have all of these internet service brands out there that are loosely tied together. Look at how seamlessly FB ties all of their tech together. MS has their work cut out for them.
screwkevinMay 10, 2011
Facebook is a website, Microsoft is not.
charlotte_webMay 10, 2011
Look at the history of Microsoft Live, which at one time was a full-on MySpace clone (before FB opened up their membership).
harrisbradleyMay 11, 2011
There is both Microsoft.com and Facebook.com. Likewise, a MicrosoftCorp. and a Facebook Corp.
anty45May 11, 2011
Microsoft is a big investor in fb...
charlotte_webMay 11, 2011
They were also an investor in Apple.
eq2sMay 11, 2011
Microsoft owns about 1% of Facebook. This does not mean that Facebook gets free access to Microsoft's acquisitions.
peinetMay 10, 2011
I like what it offers but what is the purpose of one company controlling all the technology.
wilhoitmMay 10, 2011
Exactly! The purpose of the Microsoft / Skype purchase is to help Apple sell more iPhones! Great for Apple!
crazedleperMay 11, 2011
iChat makes Skype unnecessary--if both parties are using it. Skype has the advantage of dialing actual phone numbers while iChat offers remote control w/Audio. Turns out that I make most of my phone calls with my phone so I tend to forget that I even have Skype.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
skateboardMay 10, 2011
Does this mean bad news for skype for Mac and other non Microsoft platforms?
charlotte_webMay 10, 2011
Nah, MS sells Mac products, and they need to continue to build the user base. What MS will really want on the iOS platform is to knock out Facetime and make it irrelevant. Apple is already helping them by not making it an open standard as Jobs had originally promised that he would. Skype for iOS is just stealing Apple's customers.
bosskeyMay 10, 2011
Not necessarily...some people like Microsoft's Mac Office more than the Windows version, and Microsoft has long offered Messenger for Mac.
wilhoitmMay 10, 2011
Yes! Kiss it goodbye! It will be like Internet Explorer for the Mac. A joke that disappears after 2 years of not being updated.
jaminscriptMay 11, 2011
The only updates it will get are thousands of lines of code pumped into it to support Outlook and MSN. Basically it will become bloated, slow, s**t and provide you with all the security holes you've ever wanted!
jaminscriptMay 11, 2011
It has Linux support. I wonder if that will stay. Probably not, because Microsoft is a bitch.
jeffgtrMay 11, 2011
It's bad news for users on all platforms actually
langfordMay 11, 2011
Microsoft? I guess Skype's multi-OS days are numbered.
berkanaMay 11, 2011
Because Ballmer is a f**king retard who would rather overpay for Skype by several billion in order to spite Facebook than to actually innovate. For $8 billion, MS could have created its own Skype from scratch. Skype has never turned a profit, is nearly $700 million in debt, and was not worth the $4 billion Facebook was offering. Skype + Facebook might have been worth $4 Billion, but Skype + Microsoft is nothing but raw FAIL.
This move has Ballmer's sweaty armpit scented fingerprints all over it. Smells like stupid from a mile away.
netantMay 11, 2011
You have crystallized my every sentiment concerning this financial purchase.
netantMay 11, 2011
and did you notice this retarded article gave NO (credible) reason why Microsoft is buying skype? (despite its title...)
john370May 11, 2011
Microsoft will surely find a way to screw this up...
nanettelammleMay 10, 2011
Wrong question. Why Skype is selling to Microsoft?
netantMay 11, 2011
Skype is selling ephemeral buzz. Microsoft is phenomenally stupid for buying skype without a killer strategy that could benefit from having the skype cog.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
crazedleperMay 11, 2011
Because Mi¢ro$oft gave them 8,000,000,000 reasons to. Death to Mi¢ro$oft.
coffeeroxMay 11, 2011
This account has been closed by the user
mmo5632May 11, 2011
Microsoft has bought Skype for $8.5 billion, in an all cash deal.
satoruitterMay 11, 2011
Big
aznundercoverMay 10, 2011
Does this mean front-facing cameras finally to Win7 phones? (Not that Win7 phones couldn't have that feature to begin with)
rudegarMay 10, 2011
and the latest msg'r let you facebook chat and many other chat types made by others
maybe they are planning on becoming a AT&T of internet chat both texts, visual and audio
diggplugMay 10, 2011
Microsoft Agrees to Buy Skype for $8.5 Billion to Add Web Calls
risflanceMay 10, 2011
Facebook and Google were said to be earlier dance partners for Skype, and Microsoft was a late entrant and is now close to walking away with the prize.
netantMay 11, 2011
The article was quite clear. Google didn't need skype, and apparently, it cost more than what Google would benefit from keeping it away from its competitors. The writer felt Facebook couldn't afford it. That is the vendor that could capitalize the most from skype. Microsoft bought it because they are rich and exceptionally stupid. Apparently, the writer felt Microsoft's only interest was a potential competitor technology in iOS's market hegemony.
Its sad. Microsoft has all this money, but its too phenomenally crippled in entrepreneurial vision to build new technology markets from it. Their XBOX venture by comparison is a success, in that it didn't lose money the way myspace did. At least Microsoft built something from nothing, in that instance. Their dot.Net product is excellent in quality, but Microsoft's vision is so pygmy, its going to die a Xerox death. Microsoft keeps starting from behind, thinking they're going to repeat an Internet 1.0 triumph, without realizing how retarded the strategy is in 2011.
Microsoft took way too long to realize that there was money to be made & power to be had by invading the internet search market. And when they tried, they found that even with Google's "missteps", their search product was so rock hard, Bing! wasn't going to grab more than 5% of that market. Microsoft couldn't even beat out myspace and early facebook with its MSN conglomeration.
They were WAY too late for the smartphone market. They don't realize their windows 7 phone is a s**t product, and they WON'T have the time to incrementalize improvements before they're 5% irrelevant. You'd think they'd learn their lesson by now from their Bing! fiasco. If Microsoft wanted a chance to own the smartphone market, they should have bought out Palm before HP did, as soon as Google showed some traction with Android.
The only way Microsoft is going to own the magic consumer market of tomorrow, is by determining what services that market wants, and get there before Google, Apple, Amazon, or some startup builds it first. They can't just presume their competitors will keep dropping the ball at some crucial point.
jaminscriptMay 11, 2011
The second it's bought by Microsoft I'll be looking for the 'Deactivate account' button.
iiiearsJul 16, 2011
Hello this is the help desk, you are using microsoft phone. Yes it is the same one you use on microsoft's social network and even Facebook if you insist on it.
iiiearsJul 16, 2011
Hello this is the help desk, you are using microsoft phone. Yes it is the same one you use on microsoft's social network and even Facebook if you insist on it.
asiffaridi1May 18, 2011
Hi Mirunik!!! I Digg it!!
asiffaridi1May 18, 2011
Hi Mirunik!!! I Digg it!!
wardcosbysonMay 18, 2011
$8billion, that's insane amount of money
wardcosbysonMay 18, 2011
$8billion, that's insane amount of money
digitalddMay 15, 2011
Good article, but Skype is a brand that people know Microsoft already has lots of services which offer the same things which people do not know. Now Microsoft can put the familiar Skype logo on those services we had no idea they offered and people will know that have them. IE instead of unified voice communicator in Outlook/Exchange call it Skype, instead of Windows Live voice/video chat conferencing call it Skype chat/conferencing.
digitalddMay 15, 2011
Good article, but Skype is a brand that people know Microsoft already has lots of services which offer the same things which people do not know. Now Microsoft can put the familiar Skype logo on those services we had no idea they offered and people will know that have them. IE instead of unified voice communicator in Outlook/Exchange call it Skype, instead of Windows Live voice/video chat conferencing call it Skype chat/conferencing.
benkomorMay 11, 2011
It's a lot of money to spend on trying to be perceived as being cool. Wondering how long it's going to take Microsoft to realize that they're stuck in a catch 22 with this deal :)
ezhiill15May 11, 2011
:)
bleueMay 11, 2011
Oh geez...
FTA:
'it gives Ms a working relationship with carriers...'
Umm, no. Carrier fear and loathe and detest skype because it bypasses the most profitable segment of their business. As a threat maybe...
'it(facebook) gets access to skype (microsoft is an investor in facebook)...'
Umm, it doesn't work that way. If MS is invested in facebook FB does not have access to MS intellectual property. it usually goes the other way and only if you are the majority shareholder at that.
'facebook needs skype badly'
until this week I hadn't heard a pundit seriously mention this... FB has done very well without skype and the merging of the two services is far from obvious or simple. Skype operates on a different paradigm than FB and it's not immediately apparent that they can be merged into a single service people would actually use.
"Ebay...make money on the deal'
First of all ebay paid 2.6 to 3.1 billion for Skype back in 2005. Adjusted for inflation and the fact that they paid for skype's losses and that the negative outlook of the deal forced ebay's shares down in value, this is not "making money' this is 'losing money'. Granted: they come out of it better than many thought possible a few years ago but still.
'co-founder's... double dip'
No. They sold a stake in 2005, and sold the rest this week. This is single dipping.
This deal is mysterious to me and feels like a mistake, but I'm pretty sure most of the reasons in the article are not factors. Although skype was available on winphone, this deal may lead to some exclusive arrangement which might make some sense I guess...
netantMay 11, 2011
While you're right that no other "major" market pundit has said such, facebook is the only buyer that could really benefit from skype.
Facebook (unfortunate for it) is in the popularity business. As long as the market perceives that facebook is the computing place to organize your communications to other people, facebook is gold. The instant it loses that, it becomes myspace.
Facebook has webpage interfaces, webgames, and popularity. It doesn't have a presence in the phone world. It doesn't own twitter. Having skype built in means being able to use your webbrowser to videocall/conference people. Its a way of having a phone presence without investing in a (losing) architecture. Its a potentially huge app to gain. Pay it off by banner ads, contextual search ads, future "extortion" fee strategies, and yet another reason people "need" facebook.
Why Microsoft bought skype? It make no f**king sense to me, unless they actually have a grand strategy which need it. (Microsoft never does.)
bleueMay 11, 2011
The trouble is that FB is all about posting persistent messages for others, and skype breaks that. FB does not really need instant communications, it became popular, insanely popular, without them and they are not sorely missed. Products have been competing in the instant comms market for years (in chat and video) and yet FB has surpassed them all in popularity. The added value of instant comms is not obvious.
dineshnathMay 11, 2011
Microsoft is the larges company of software
crazedleperMay 11, 2011
That only means that they make the loudest sucking sound.
kaminisaxena1May 11, 2011
Wow, Its great, But what benefit does Microsoft have.
jaminscriptMay 11, 2011
They think they can collect existing users and add them to their 'fan base'.
I'll be leaving Skype now. f**k you Microsoft!
Prashanth483May 10, 2011
Wow..
msbpodcastMay 10, 2011
Well, its a step away from making operating systems anyway... Microsoft always sucked at that.
Like IBM which sold off its PC business off to Lenovo, who are actually doing fine with it, Microsoft is stepping into the services business. (IBM would have been a better fit for Skype but I guess they couldn't pony up $8+billion.)
Lets hope that Skype can carve out a niche for itself being Microsoft's VOIP provider. (Look for sales on thousands of PBXs soon.)
I wonder how the telcos are going to react at becoming just wired and wireless access point providers (given that they're already in competition with government created and maintained geographic monopolies called the cable companies.)
Then again, the telcos had gotten out of the provision of anything but the infrastructure years ago. (Northern Electric went broke in 2009.)Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
netantMay 11, 2011
What, on earth, would IBM gain by taking over skype??? IBM is in the computing services business for large corporations. If anything, they've become less Internet market driven. IBM was never about invading other market's business, or building new consumer industries from scratch.
amrita1980May 11, 2011
awesome amount of purchasing
KaisarahmmedMay 11, 2011
thanks
kiepdaotacMay 11, 2011
Wow, It;s s hot news!
kiepdaotacMay 11, 2011
Woa
estrategyMay 10, 2011
Microsoft recognizes the future is . . . Free Voice Calls, Free Text Messaging, Free Wireless http://www.deadzones.com/2011/05/why-microsoft-msft-bought-skype-for-85b.htmlComment is buried, click here to see the rest.