25 years have passed since the icon with the blue S appeared on our computer desktops and forever redefined digital communication. 25 years in which families living far apart connected, friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time reconnected, and even teachers with students to give a class. We’re talking about Skype, which on May 5 said goodbye forever. A classic on our computers that seemed like it would always be there has come to the end of its story, and now, the platform that once had more than 300 million users has been replaced by a more modern alternative: Microsoft Teams.
What is Skype?
Maybe it doesn’t sound familiar to you because you’re Generation Z or Alpha, but us, Millennials, weren’t lucky enough to have all the platforms we used come with video calls included and right at our fingertips. Skype was the first platform that combined video calls, voice calls and instant messages, and it launched in 2003! For you, it may sound silly, but for us, a big part of our adolescence ended when Messenger closed, and now that Skype says goodbye, the other part is gone too.
Why is it shutting down?
Well, as we mentioned before, Skype was a pioneer in offering video call services, but its use has plummeted in the past decade, and the reason is simple: there are dozens of platforms that offer the same service and are much more modern. Without going any further, from the same company, Microsoft (which bought Skype in 2011) offers the service Teams, where, by the way, Skype users will still be able to log in with their credentials because contacts will migrate automatically.
Teams presents itself as a new alternative, more modern and offering many more features, like communities, calendars, and group meetings (something that wasn’t possible with Skype).
What should Skype users do?
Well, until May 5 you could have exported your data and saved it, but in case you didn’t do anything, don’t worry, Microsoft has transferred your information automatically so no one loses anything in the change.
On May 5, a door closed forever, competition had been a major threat to Skype and the digital world changes too quickly to catch up once you’ve fallen behind. On May 5, part of our adolescence closed. Maybe you didn’t use it much, or maybe you did. In the case of this writer, she loved calling her friends after coming home from school to do homework together, maybe that’s why I seem much more nostalgic than usual. Because the end of Skype means we’ve grown up and left behind many things we loved, almost like Andy when he gives Woody to other kids in Toy Story.
The present of video calls isn’t blue anymore, it’s multicolored from now on, and it’s normal that “the older ones” make way for the new generations. But… We have to thank it for setting the precedent for everything we know today.
Rest well, dear Skype, thank you for everything!