« Niklas Zennstrom's (Skype) Presentation from VON Canada 2005 | Main | News from VON Canada 2005 »
April 20, 2005
Highlights from my talk at VON Canada 2005
Yesterday morning during my Industry Perspective at VON Canada 2005, the title of my presentation was "Shift Happens..." and I shared my realization that while many of us talk about end-to-end IP happening, in reality it has happened and continues to happen and that Skype is the “iPod” of IP Communications.
This realization brought out some questions in my mind, including:
- Now that Skype has happened, now what?
- What will now drive end-to-end IP to the next level?
Skype taught us:
- Make something easy to use
- Do it better than the rest
- Provide it for the right price
…and people will use it!
Skype has made the communication experience on the broadband internet better.
Now when I look towards Skype and the future of IP Communications, I wonder:
- Has Skype become a “standard”?
- Does Skype become the new OS for communications?
- If I apply my personal experience from the Spreadsheet Industry
Is Skype?:
(A) VisiCalc
(B) Lotus 1-2-3
(C) Microsoft Excel
- I vote (B) above but I'd like to hear what others say.
My next questions were:
- Will application developers build to Skype?
- Will Skype support the developer community?
What happens next in a Skype-enabled World?
While Skype continues to evolve, the Age Long Battles Continue…Open vs. Closed
What is the role for standards?
Can open systems rise up and take control? Where do things evolve next?
Are the world’s Telco's (and cablecos) destined to become big-dumb-pipe providers?
How long until critical mass happens and we see self-aware endpoints?
Posted by jeff on April 20, 2005 04:19 PM | Permalink
Additional resources: #140conf events | Watch the Jeff Pulver Show | Jeff's Qik Videos
Comments
>Skype taught us:
>- Make something easy to use
>- Do it better than the rest
>- Provide it for the right price
>…and people will use it!
Are you telling us you didn't know that before?
Posted by: Ludwik at April 21, 2005 03:50 AM
I also think SKYPE is the "Lotus 123" of VoN. The Visicalc of Von was Jeff's FWD, culminating with FWDOut. However, FWD and especially FWDout is just too expensive in terms of hardware and expertise for your average computer user to install and use. After all, not many people can afford an ASTERISK system.
Skype is the second time around, high publicity budget, low implementation cost product. If they don't kill themselves with their new anti-theft policies for skypeout (after all, their main business plan was to sell skypeout minutes), they will be the killer app of this decade.
However I can see a convergence here. Software could be written to allow people to set up their own skypeout nodes and use whatever charging model they want. In effect a combination of FWDout and Skypeout, where skype does not get any revenue from it and those unhappy with their credit card policies have a place to go.
Posted by: geoffrey s. mendelson at April 21, 2005 01:44 AM
I agree with the "Lotus 1-2-3" model. Skype builds itself to become the main "engine" for VoIP usage among the typical user. However , I would like to add a suggestion for another equivalence - this time to ICQ, in its early days.
ICQ presented a simple solution to a killer need and an easy to understand software.
ICQ was probably the first to spawn the awareness of the non-geek masses to IM.
And ICQ was the main brand associated with IM for a couple of years, until other big players entered.
Posted by: Uri L. at April 20, 2005 06:12 PM