Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Nokia and Skype have maintained a growing and harmonious relationship in the past years, and N900 is the only mobile phone in the Universe that runs a proper Skype. After conquering the desktop, Skype are expanding to more types of devices: mobile, TVs, etc.

The only serious platform Skype has been missing from is Android, possibly because of Google's failure to acquire it when Skype was bought by eBay. It has now been announced though that Skype are developing an Android application: http://skattertech.com/2010/05/skype...int-htc-evo-4g

Like it or not, Android is the mobile platform to beat. I believe video telephony will play an important role in the battle. Video Skype on N900 is one of the most important "killer apps". The only way for Nokia to keep their edge in this regard is, IMHO, to buy Skype.

It is not a secret that numerous pseudonymous experts here on TMO have much better strategies for Nokia than Nokia's own executives :D

So what do you think?

PS. Nevermind the typo in the poll question. Should read as the thread title, obviously.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

I'd rather they acquired Gizmo 5.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

I think not. eBay bought them, almost immediately regretted that purchase. I do admit that Nokia and Skype would be a good mix, better than eBay and Skype.

But i don't think they (Nokia) shouldn't buy Skype.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Google beat them to that punch.

Which reminds me... nothing new has come from that purchase yet.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

What, from Google?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

No.

Skype uses proprietary protocols and is bad for the same reasons Flash and H.264 is bad.

There is free and open solutions and protocols for chat/VoIP/video-call which hopefully will win over Skype one day.
http://ekiga.org/

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

I don't think video calling will be very big. Every Symbian handset supports 3G video calls out of the box (has for years) and no-one I know uses it. It's not free like skype, but if there was enough demand for it, people would pay for it.

Now I guess it depends on the price. How much would you pay to have exclusivity for (only) Skype video calls? Don't think it makes sense for Nokia, better to just partner with Skype.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Skype is more about the user base than about the technology now. I am sure many comparable or even superior solutions to VoIP exist, but how many are used by over 20 million people as I am writing this?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

we need to just make software patents expire and go into the public domain after like 3 years.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

it would be a good way to compete service-wise vs google which has google voice and gizmo.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

sure it's about user base... if you're desperate and need to get as many customers per night as possible. i believe there's something else in life. even if you do business, you needn't throw moral overboard.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

It won't be. Video calling is good for phonesex, video conferencing and grammas who want to see their grandchildren while calling them.

Other than that it's redundant and too much unwanted information.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

:confused:

What is immoral about Nokia buying Skype?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Make that "had acquired", sorry.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Agree. Ergonomics is another, you'll have to keep the forward facing camera pointing at your face, and use a headset if you don't want everyone around to overhear the whole conversation.

The tech blogosphere seems to be gaga over video calling right now and I think it'll might have a brief spike in usage until people realize it's not as cool as it seemed.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

In the next few weeks (if the iphone 4G rumours are to be believed) video calling is going to take off in a big way, Skype is doing the right thing attaching itself to Android. I wouldn't like to see Skype being bought by Nokia - Nokia purchasing Skype would do little to reinvigorate their portfolio but it's management style could be the stagnation or slow death of Skype.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

People say that UMTS video calling didn't get big because it was expensive, but there really hasn't been increase since the prices dropped. Ergonomics is importanta factor, but 90%+ of communication trough airwawes doesn't require visual input. I don't need to see friends face while we agree on which pub to meet and so worth. It's just so damn redundant.

Well, the american networks and manufacturers are finally starting to integrate video calling for mobile communication. That's where the noise in english speaking blogosphere is coming from, but the result will be same as in Europe. If Apple does it then there might be short living fad.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Can Nokia afford Skype?

Can they afford to be in competition with their largest partners/customers?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

A good question. Last time Skype was sold for $2.75 Billion. So I would guess yes. But according to local experts it's not worth it, or is immoral :eek:

You mean the telcos? I'd sure love to see that :)

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Nokia's management style would propably be good fit for Skype, since it's roots are in Sweden and Estonia. Nokia still shoulnd't buy it. Makes no sense plus it would propably put them on warpath with telcos.*




*No, I don't have problems with telcos, nor do I think that telcos are somehow evil. Your mileage propably varies if you're on other side of the Atlantic.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

skype is bad, as zimon pointed out above. you said that it's only about the user base. that's why i pointed out that it's not only about the user base. it's about what's morally good. skype is not.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

If someone buys Skype, they can actually open up all the codes and licenses.

See also: google's acquisitions.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

this is the most useless topic here probably forever....

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Not even close...

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Thanks for answering, benny1967, you really had me puzzled.

I don't think that Skype HAVE to stick with their proprietary codecs. They could easily phase them out and replace with open standards. Heck, Nokia could do that (if they bought Skype first :)

So would you consider it moral that way?

EDIT: ysss already suggested that. Don't you just hate it when work gets in the way of entertainment?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Not really argument against Nokia buying Skype.

See also: Trolltech and Symbian acquisitions.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

lets rephrase:

the most useless poll

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

It wasn't.

See my previous post for arguments against Nokia buying Skype :)

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Same arguments apply to Google actually. Telcos are keypartners in the Openhandset alliance.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Google don't sell their services directly to telcos like Nokia does.
Yes, it's pretty much a messy gangbang out there and getting harder to make out who's with who; but I think it's pretty clear that the telcos are holding Nokia's ding dong pretty tight.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Telcos are holding everyone's dingdong pretty tight in markets where they dominate. Again, terrible argument against Nokia buying Skype. Nokia is the most carrier independent manufacturer out there. Not that I think Nokia buying Skype would be good idea.

Big part of Androids success has been that it has allowed same kind of carrier optimization as Symbian. And no, I don't think that Google would do anything to jeopardize their relationship with telcos in telco dominated markets like USA and UK.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Useless to whom? If you ask me a question, do I have any use for the answer I might give you?

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Same mistakes done again as with WAP.

You cannot fix it, when it has already been broken, the image.
You need much marketing to fix unpleasant image, and economically noone is willing to do that later.

People would use MMS, if in the start, it would had cost same as SMS.
People would use video call, if it would had cost same as normal call in the start.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

WAP mostly because it was useless technology. Web in low-res screen wasn't really good for anything.

Videocalling failed because people, apart from few special use cases, don't need it.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

They can, but that would ruin the success of Skype, reduce its user base and therefore be a loss for those who bought it.

You see, the bad thing about Skype is not so much codecs used... It's the mafia-like "closed network" method; the same used by Facebook or Twitter, btw.

The reason why Skype has such a massive user bas is that you cannot communicate with a Skype user without being on Skype yourself. The network's closed. No open protocols, standards, interoperability. So it grows and continues to grow because whenever one of two lovers is on Skype, the other one needs to join. And the more Skype users there are, the more "gravity" it gains... If 9 out of 10 friends use Skype, why wouldn't you?

Now sure a potential buyer could put an end to this, open up the whole network, make the protocols available, document them as RCFs, allow other services to use the Skype protocol for both clients and servers... What would happen? Skype users would switch to services that do one or two things differently than Skype, but are interoperable. They can still phone all their contacts on the (now open) Skype network, but don't have a contract with Skype (the company) any longer.

This would of course be a good thing for the users and the internet. But it would ruin the only value Skype has for a potential buyer: its user base.

So yes, Nokia could open up everything after they bought Skype. But that would be like buying an expensive car and replacing the engine with flower pots in order to make it a nonpolluting object. It's a theoretical possibility but it's not going to happen.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

I guess we basically agree that the telcos simply have plenty of ding dongs in their hands :D Even the most carrier independent manufacturer out there will stand to lose a lot if they take that step toward competing with the telcos.

I'm glad that you take these things into account afterall.

So open-standards-based system do not stand a chance then?
ie: gtalk

That wouldn't be a problem for Nokia. They're in the business of selling phones. Their phones will sell like hotcakes if they can make all Nokia phones can call any other Nokia phones worldwide for free (so long as they have internet connectivity).

If they can afford it...

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Nokia would make a greater contribution and have a greater return of investment if they would fund improvements for SIP in general and twinkle in particular (which is stuck at QT 3) or even a new FOSS alternative.

That is, instead of wasting a lot of cash buying Skype.

Re: Poll: Should Nokia buy Skype?
 

Benny, understandably opening the network may erode the user base, but one also has to consider the two types of users Skype has; only the ones that use free Skype calls will be likely to jump ship, but they generate no revenue anyway. The paying customers who have Skype-In number, unlimited calling subscription, a Skype2Go number, etc., will stay with Skype as long as they see enough value for their money. Considering the momentum that Skype has and the fact that opening its network will not make it any worse than it is now (au contraire, actually), and with the possible value added by Nokia's support, I would expect the user base of devoted paying customers only to grow.

Ysss, you are right that vexing the telcos sounds like a bad idea, but I do not see how doing so if you own Skype is any worse than putting a third party Skype on all your devices and opening it for use over 3G. If anything, Nokia may have more leverage against the telcos if it owns both the hardware and the software in this situation, like others do. BTW, thanks a lot for planting in my head the image of telcos holding dingdongs... NOT!

In the end, I agree with Texrat and others that Nokia should have bought Gizmo back in the day, it would have cost them much less too, even if they had to bid over Google.

Rauha, I see that you don't believe in the usefulness of video telephony and in most cases you may be right, but having the option is undeniably better than not, and we do have the technology. Let us wait and see what Apple does, I agree with kojacker that the 4G iPhone may change drastically people's opinions, even if it's short lived. The lack of camera in the iPad hints that Apple don't bet much on video either, but you never know.

All in all, there seems to be a consensus that, while buying Skype would be a waste of money, development or acquisition of an (open source) video telephony technology by Nokia is a wise step. So, if my initial question was not featuring Skype but a generic compatible product, my guess is that most would have voted yes. With that, I don't believe this thread was a complete waste of time :cool: