Andy Ihnatko on Microsoft's purchase of Skype

Mr. Ihnatko hit all the points in this piece, it really worth a read.

My first thoughts when I heard about this seemingly done deal were the follwowing, in chronological order:

  • “WTF?”
  • “*Snerk* They don’t even have to “improve” the interface.”
  • “That’s a lotta money.”
  • “Didn’t Skype use some fancy encryption?”

Another thought I had is best summed-up by Mr. Ihnatko:

There’s also a hell of a lot of value in simply owning one of the world’s largest social-media networks. Skype users who are both (a) smart and (b) paranoid will now re-read their Skype terms-of-service agreement more carefully: Microsoft just bought a fairly comprehensive database of who knows whom all over the world.

(I wouldn’t worry too much. Microsoft, unlike Google and Facebook, has yet to figure out how to monetize evil. It’s almost adorable.)

Alex Hoffmann @mangochutney