Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5B, why you should actually care

Will Brinson

Screen shot 2011 05 10 at 10.25.48 AM Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5B, why you should actually careMicrosoft bought Skype, it was officially announced today. At least I think it was officially announced — everyone’s talking about it, and since I’m a fresh 24 hours off my bachelor party trip to Las Vegas, I’m just thrilled my brain’s still allowing my fingers to move in cohesion.

But yeah, lots of money just got dropped by Microsoft on Skype; about $8.5 billion — with a “B” — worth. Your first inclination — “DON’T CARE, NERD BOY!” — isn’t too far off, but there’s also an interesting twist to this, because of Microsoft’s presence in verticals other than just your work computer.

Like, say, your Xbox, which will have Skype support now, per the latest Skype blog post:

Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

I’ve previously mentioned that having an unlimited minutes Skype account is a fantastic way to supplant the need for something as ridiculous as a “home telephone line” (it’s like $30 a year for Skype), and this move only emphasizes that.

If you or your kids or your roommate have an Xbox, you’ll be able to call anyone in the world at some point, or do a video chat with someone in China. Or whatever.

The Outlook thing is a bit confusing, because if I used it, I probably wouldn’t want anyone blowing up my work email with Skype notifications. But maybe Microsoft will be smart enough to allow people to send Skype invites via Outlook’s calendar, which would make things pretty nice for people that use it at work and home.

Same deal with your Windows phones, which should, at some point, get pretty good support for all things Skype. I can’t imagine, either, that the ability of iPhone users to bust out their Skype apps will be altered at all — Skype’s going to become a division within Microsoft, so the people who run Skype and made it worth $8.5 billion will get to keep doing that, hopefully without anyone getting all up on their business.

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