Stuart Henshall at Unbound Spiral has launched a new community around Skype, the free Voice over Internet Protocol system that lets you speak from one computer to another computer anywhere in the world. You can also call regular telephone number for a very low price.
Concurrently Skype growth has accelerated with over 2m active online and some 40m minutes a day. New products both hardware and software for Skype are emerging daily. Each day Skype adds another 130000 users. With 24+ million Skypers the majority early adopters, computer literate, these are the current change agents for the communications society. While for the most part tied to desktops and headsets they will become part of a mobile social communications revolution.
This burgeoning market needs representation, and a vehicle for sharing news, product updates, industry views and counterpoints. Skype is also proprietary, it is pointed out again and again that it is not SIP, and similarly security and business applications are frequently raised (usually by competitors). These are important issues, and the blog world has enormous power to influence where a company goes and how it develops. I’m listening for counterpoints!
This burgeoning market needs representation, and a vehicle for sharing news, product updates, industry views and counterpoints. Skype is also proprietary, it is pointed out again and again that it is not SIP, and similarly security and business applications are frequently raised (usually by competitors). These are important issues, and the blog world has enormous power to influence where a company goes and how it develops. I’m listening for counterpoints!
I find it interesting, and very McLuhanesque, that this company has launched to support a community that uses a proprietary software application. It’s third-party marketing, customer lobbying and developer support all rolled in one; and the company (Skype) is not even involved in this venture. However, Skype could really benefit in an active relationship with Skype Journal, and I’m sure that they understand this. Definitely one to watch.
