From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc


Another product bought up by a big tech business and (eventually)
closed down in favour of their own product, and another third-party
product destroyed by Microsloth buying it up. :-\


Skype Is Finally Shutting Down on May 5
---------------------------------------
Microsoft today announced that it will officially retire Skype
on May 5, 2025, concluding its 14-year tenure as the owner of
the once-dominant internet calling and messaging service.

Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion in what was
then its largest-ever acquisition. At its peak, Skype had more
than 300 million monthly active users and was synonymous with
internet-based voice and video calling. The service steadily
declined in relevance in recent years, with its active user
base shrinking to approximately 36 million by 2023 as
competitors such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft's own Teams
platform gained traction.

Teams has since grown to 320 million monthly users, far
surpassing Skype's remaining user base. The company's decision
to discontinue Skype is apparently part of a broader effort to
prioritize artificial intelligence features within Teams.
Employees currently working on Skype will be reassigned to
other projects rather than being laid off.

Skype played a key role in popularizing VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol) technology, enabling businesses and
individuals to connect around the world with minimal costs. It
also served as an early testbed for AI-powered real-time
language translation, a feature Microsoft showcased in a widely
publicized demonstration in 2014. However, its frequent UI
changes, reliability issues, ill-conceived social media-like
features, gradual shift toward enterprise, and inability to
keep pace with newer competitors, especially during the
COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately led to its obsolescence.

As Microsoft finalizes the shutdown process, existing Skype
users will have until May 5 to migrate their data and contacts
to Teams or seek alternative solutions.

<https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/28/skype-shutting-down-on-may-5/>



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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc

On 28 Feb 2025 at 23:20:19 GMT, "Your Name" <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

Another product bought up by a big tech business and (eventually)
closed down in favour of their own product, and another third-party
product destroyed by Microsloth buying it up. :-\

I haven't kept tabs on who's leading between MS & Google in numbers of third-party apps bought, left to rot then eventually killed off. Google would take gold easily if you added in all the home-grown apps & services that have popped up over the years and popped their clogs a few years later. Yes, Yahoo should be included as well, but I think even their record would only get them
a bronze medal.

Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion in what was
then its largest-ever acquisition. At its peak, Skype had more
than 300 million monthly active users and was synonymous with
internet-based voice and video calling. The service steadily
declined in relevance in recent years, with its active user
base shrinking to approximately 36 million by 2023 as
competitors such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft's own Teams
platform gained traction.

[...]

Skype played a key role in popularizing VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol) technology, enabling businesses and
individuals to connect around the world with minimal costs. It
also served as an early testbed for AI-powered real-time
language translation, a feature Microsoft showcased in a widely
publicized demonstration in 2014. However, its frequent UI
changes, reliability issues, ill-conceived social media-like
features, gradual shift toward enterprise, and inability to
keep pace with newer competitors, especially during the
COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately led to its obsolescence.

While I disliked what Skype became in its latter years, there's no denying it was a game-changer product when it came out in the 2000s, and a survivor of efforts by incumbent telcos to stave off the thread of VOIP to their positions and profits by whatever means possible.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc

On 2025-03-01 10:58:46 +0000, Alan Ralph said:

On 28 Feb 2025 at 23:20:19 GMT, "Your Name" <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

Another product bought up by a big tech business and (eventually)
closed down in favour of their own product, and another third-party
product destroyed by Microsloth buying it up. :-\

I haven't kept tabs on who's leading between MS & Google in numbers of third-party apps bought, left to rot then eventually killed off. Google would take gold easily if you added in all the home-grown apps & services that have popped up over the years and popped their clogs a few years later. Yes, Yahoo should be included as well, but I think even their record would only get them a bronze medal.

Adobe wouldn't be far behind the medal winners either. At one point
they bought up Macromedia, claimed they would not be killing off
Dreamweaver or their own GoLive, but anyone with a brain knew they
weren't going to be keeping two website building apps, and GoLive
quietly disappeared not long after.

Then there is Symantec, which bought Think Pascal and Think C, and then
killed them off not that long afterwards. :-(

Apple too buys up lots of small businesses and then kills off the
product, although sometimes the features are rolled into the OS or
Apple app.




--- Synchronet 3.20c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc

In article <vpvs0q$cquv$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> writes:

On 2025-03-01 10:58:46 +0000, Alan Ralph said:

On 28 Feb 2025 at 23:20:19 GMT, "Your Name" <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote: >>>

Another product bought up by a big tech business and (eventually)
closed down in favour of their own product, and another third-party
product destroyed by Microsloth buying it up. :-\

I haven't kept tabs on who's leading between MS & Google in numbers of
third-party apps bought, left to rot then eventually killed off. Google would
take gold easily if you added in all the home-grown apps & services that have
popped up over the years and popped their clogs a few years later. Yes, Yahoo
should be included as well, but I think even their record would only get them
a bronze medal.

Adobe wouldn't be far behind the medal winners either. At one point
they bought up Macromedia, claimed they would not be killing off
Dreamweaver or their own GoLive, but anyone with a brain knew they
weren't going to be keeping two website building apps, and GoLive
quietly disappeared not long after.

Then there is Symantec, which bought Think Pascal and Think C, and then killed them off not that long afterwards. :-(

Apple too buys up lots of small businesses and then kills off the
product, although sometimes the features are rolled into the OS or
Apple app.

HP's swath of destruction, er, list of acquisitions is fairly extensive too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Hewlett-Packard

Considering that Compaq (which was one of their acquisitions) had
previously bought DEC, HP certainly bought themselves a lot of history, although there's limits to what they did with it (but surprisingly,
VMS still exists).

Had it survived and been updated with larger date support and larger
memory support, Apollo Domain/OS also had the potential for much
coolness now lost, give or take on emulators backdated to years it could handle.
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