OPINION: Microsoft has confirmed its classic Skype client is being shut down this spring. However, in truth, the iconic VoIP platform was doomed from the day Microsoft bought it.
The pioneering voice over internet protocol (VoIP) client that enabled web users to make voice and video calls as well as chat via IM will no longer be available from May. Microsoft is instead guiding users towards its Teams client that’s more commonly used in the workplace.
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In an announcement on X, Microsoft wrote: “Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available. Over the coming days you can sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype account to stay connected with all your chats and contacts. Thank you for being part of Skype.”
Skype, which also provided a means of making affordable international phone calls to landlines and mobiles. It wrested back some control from the landline companies who charged a fortune and, for that reason, was a lifeline for friends, family members and work colleagues.
The software, which launched in Estonia all the way back in 2003, ended up in Microsoft’s hands back in 2011 for a whopping $8.5 billion.
Microsoft wasn’t the best custodian of Skype. The app became embroiled in the messy and confusing Hotmail, Live, Outlook account situation that defined Microsoft’s online efforts in during that time period. There were attempts at new features, that never took off like instant video messaging, integration with Cortana and even plotted a 3D video calling service.
However, over time, Microsoft became less invested in the product, barely updated the feature set, and allowed spam became a big problem to the point that I avoided even opening the app anymore.
It also began transferring its eggs into the Teams basket – a hugely unpopular service and, in that respect, Skype will continue to live on.
Given the natural progression of the tech, with improved connectivity and cameras on smartphones, Skype was overtaken by built-in mobile services like FaceTime on iPhone and whatever Google was calling its video chat service on Android that year. During the pandemic era, Skype was a non-factor with the world convalescing around Zoom for video and voice calling.
From that point on, there was no coming back for Skype.
Fond memories
I have really fond memories of Skype. When my wife and I began dating in 2009 I lived in London and was working for T3 Magazine, while she was at home in the United States. Our twice weekly Skype dates on Tuesdays and Thursdays were our only way of seeing each other for months at a time. We truly got to know each other this way.
Pre-Skype, calls over landlines would have been unaffordable for us. We’d have been able to speak for a fraction of the time, rather than into the wee hours at a critical point in our relationship.
When I moved to the US in 2010, Skype is how I kept in touch with my family back in the UK. I remember gifting my parents a Skype-branded webcam and microphone that could be plugged into a laptop via USB.
Shortly thereafter Microsoft got ahold of Skype and it was downhill from there, but I’ll always associate the little VoIP program with good memories of seeing people I loved when I couldn’t physically be with them.
Young couples or those separated from their families today won’t experience the relief this brought. Now contact is the touch of a button away on FaceTime, and the lifelines of connection feel plentiful and ubiquitous. Skype is no longer necessary.
At a time when tech developments are geared towards improving productivity, exploiting consumer data, or indirectly taking money from the pockets of creatives, Skype was an example of a tech advancement that focused on bringing people closer together and making lives better. For that alone, the app feels like a dying breed.
