Of course, I took a look around at comments on the news of Skype’s, now publicly visible fall from grace. Even the Mercury News knew who to ask to get a quote. There was only one place to look for the word. If you do not know, Stuart Henshall has been the foremost advocate and most knowledgeable observer of Skype for years. He certainly doled out plenty of free advice, had anyone been paying close attention. His requiem for this stage of Skype is here.
This was a party that was not happening. The Skype rocket took off and a whole new class of communication was born again. Skype had found a home for PC-based voice. That was not the invention. Many never noticed what this was about at the beginning. Ease of use and simplicity was core. “It just works” was the line of the day. And what we forget was a European market dynamic ripe for this exploitation. Translating that to other markets and growing beyond the core user base was the challenge. Isn’t it always?
The sad fact is there are more people with good ideas about what to do outside of Skype than there are inside, and I am pretty sure none of them are at eBay. Skype does understand this much in working at the developer program. Like any such program there is much to criticize but it is a big differentiator. We do want to work on other platforms, but Skype is the most versatile platform, period. So while there has been and will be much whining about it, you won’t hear that much from me. Of course, we had a Skype answering software prototype before there was any API, so we don’t mind some challenges.
Many, who still have no clue about what Skype was about, will be dancing with some glee. Easy to say I told you so, but sadly they never had enough of a clue to even know what Skype was or could be. Dancing to music only they can hear. (Note to the business model dancers: distance is dead, minutes are dead—get over it.) I am still dancing to what Skype has created, only concerned that no one knows what to do next. Humpty Skype has not fallen off the wall, but it needs some serious repair.
Did I just blog (last entry) that Skype never totally got what they had started? Starting a company is different that running and growing a company. The market dynamic in Europe had so much to do with Skype’s early success that I think it was an opiate that made it hard to find the best market path(s). In my product-centric view the product was not guided by any singular vision.
Today I may disagree a bit with my friend Stuart. I think that some mobile focus may have another opiate effect. However, I absolutely agree that vision is required and suspect that that has been the problem all along. How could anyone think that Joost could not have been a huge distraction—just for starters?
And that is the problem with eBay. They were fulfilling a completely different vision, imagining that there was some way that some Skype magic could be added to their magic. This was widely questioned at the time of acquisition. Now that can be analyzed ad nauseum, but that avoids the real issue here. It is too easy to find all the faults. (We love looking for the guilty.) What is needed is real insight into the market dynamics that Skype can exploit. The opportunities are legion, but what is the Skype mission? (Please don’t let eBay executives in some meeting to define a mission.) Stuart has a lengthy analysis that I would not attempt. My simple comments: This is not a phone company. Keep it simple (for new users). Be open. Get back to user focus—what are the stories? No need to bend to SIP apologists (they have been breathing their own exhaust). Which leads to, do not breathe your own exhaust. Do not define and solve problems exclusively by trapping within a Skype architecture—just be part of the solution. And don’t forget that famous Ballmer rant.