Practical Technology

I told you so. I knew that Steve Ballmer could talk all he wanted about how Microsoft would continue to support non-Microsoft platforms, but that there was no way he’d actually do it. The first proof is here. Digium, the company behind the popular open-source Asterisk private-branch exchange (PBX) program, has announced that Skype has [...]

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While many people use Skype for its free voice over IP (VoIP) services, Linux users have a love/hate relationship with it. Yes, Skype will run on some versions of Linux, but it doesn’t run on all of them, and the Linux version (2.2-beta) lags far behind the Windows version (Skype 5.3). That’s three major generations [...]

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Did Skype’s total failure last holiday season get you worried? Are you tired of Skype’s generally poor quality even at its free price-tag? Afraid of what Microsoft might do with Skype? According to ZDNet’s own unscientific survey, 41% of you are less likely to use MS-Skype. So, what can you use instead of Skype? Here’s [...]

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Skype, the voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video program, is very popular. It’s also pretty bad software. Really, what were you thinking Ballmer when you wrote a check for $8.5-billion for Skype? You do know that not even two years ago Skype was valued at $2.75-billion right? Here’s the simple truth. Skype has historically [...]

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I’m bemused to see that Microsoft’s Grand Poobah Steve Ballmer has blundered yet again. This time, instead of Vista, the operating system that never should have seem the light of day, or Windows Phone 7, the far too little, too late, attempt to play in mobile devices, he’s wasted a cool $8.5-billion (Billion!) on Skype. [...]

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