Microsoft buys Skype: Your thoughts

Thursday 12 May

Yesterday’s announcement that Microsoft has acquired Skype may not have taken people by surprise, but with Skype valued at over $8b it’s still a huge deal. We’ve been wondering what you guys think about it – is the deal a good one for gaming fanatics? What about those of you who like to chat using Skype?

We’ve had loads of comments on our Gadget Show website, with a healthy debate over the takeover. Steven Thomsen-Jones points out: “I presume the technology will be converged into XBOX Live and Live Messenger. Phone calls via ‘Skype’ from your XBOX Kinect? Nice.”

We can certainly see the attraction for Microsoft if it works out like that. However, Skype users don’t seem quite so positive, with Darren Campbell stating: “Never mind gamers, it’s terrible news for Skype users… bang goes platform independence!”

It seems like the biggest worry is that the “little guy” (Skype, even though it’s valued at over $8b), has been taken over by the “man”, with people worried about potential costs to customers.

As Andy Hartwell points out, however, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a problem: “If MS are happy to allow ‘free’ voice from messenger already what is making you guys think they will take them away from Skype ? I would imagine Skype and messenger will slowly morph together into one product with a corporate suitable commercial alternative.”

All sensible points. We’d like to hear what you think anyway, so leave a comment below and let us know.