It hit the blogosphere that Skype has introduced Voice Services Program along with three initial partners. All these partners use VoiceXML technology to deliver content. Some have reacted positively while there have been notable naysayer. But I am puzzled. To date Skype is mostly a softclient. In that case why would I access the content through the Skype client instead of a browser? Isn’t Skype inserting itself artificially? Or, is Skype morphing itself into a micro payment system?
Also, have you noticed that lately, Skype seems to be playing from Pulver’s FWD playbook. One by one, a feature or a marketing campaign that FWD deployed sometime back is sprouting in the Skypeland. A couple of months back, (ironically a few days after Pulver whimsically nominated Skype CEO for Nobel Peace Prize) Skype announced Free SkypeOut days. (Has there been one lately?) If you recall, FWD used to give free call out days to a specific country to celebrate that country’s holiday. Similarly, FWD also had partnership agreement with Tellme. Could Pulver be a coach for Skype? I seriously doubt it.
Posted by aswath at September 8, 2005 11:33 PM
Skype should be creating a micropayment system. At least, the stickiness that would result from the expansion of the service to include micropayments would be huge, and highly disruptive.
Maybe they don't want to take on too many industries at once?!