Moore's Law and Skype Video Calling
Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware.
The law is named after Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, who described the trend in a 1965 paper, whereby the "law" unfolds as a self-fulfilling prophecy – a predictable path for fully realized capability of computing hardware that leads to faster speeds, lower cost, smaller components and better performance over time.
Buy a $599 device and it can be subject to obsoletism at the hands of mass-market options that sell for half, then a quarter, and eventually a tenth of the price. And, when unbeatable lower cost, high performance options are readily available, spending at the top-end can be like throwing money away, especially if you are buying a video calling system and there is no one else to call.
So with Skype video calling, you don't have to worry about that.
- It's free or low cost to call your friends
- It's great quality with up to HD 720p video and SILK super wideband audio
- It's accessible by millions of people around the world
- It's available across many different platforms like desktop computers, mobiles, TVs and more.
So with no significant privilege to participate – you too can enjoy Skype and know, more than likely, that there will be someone on the other end who you can call.
robandtiina commented Wednesday, Oct 6
Are you trying to justify elitism over Apples facetime? If so I would encourage Skype to be open minded and integrate across platform rather than close off against the competition entirely (fring, anyone?). If Skype don't integrate video calling into their iApp then more and more people will be taking to the newer technology because it simply provides a service which Skype cannot compete with. A $599 gadget it may be, but it will prove to be successful if there's no viable alternative..
vstg005 commented Wednesday, Oct 6
There would be a lot more more people to call if Skype extended the 30-day trial for the multi-party video calling feature.
mutiny32 commented Thursday, Oct 7
You may want to redact that part about being able to do video calling on mobiles. Skype can't do that. Yeah, really. Also, Moore's law stated that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every 18-24 months. But I can see your point here. My issue is that while Skype has moved forward in making video calls better on the desktop higher quality and less jerky; it has done the opposite in other emerging market segments where it used to be possible to make video calls, but now it's barely possible to make even a voice call using one's particular Internet connection due to things like exclusivity agreements with various carriers and outright blocking third-parties who can implement your own technology more efficiently and with more features. Skype's current approach pretty much nullifies Moore's law as it applies here because of an artificial barrier to even using the technology itself in a lot of cases. I guess if you were looking at the bigger picture though, we've got Fring offering video calling now because Skype took their ball and went home, Apple with FaceTime, and Google Voice/Talk, and Qik to put a lot of hurt on Skype's attempt to stifle progress in this rapidly growing marketplace. So in that case, yes, Moore's law is holding true.
cmaster64 commented Thursday, Oct 7
I like that skype is universal, but there is a hole for a lot of people who have the iPod touch 4g and iPhone 4's. Not facetime, but now alot of popular ultra-mobile electronics now will have front facing cameras. HTC evo 4g, probably the next iPad, and I think they need to get back to the drawing board on the skype app. I'm happy they made one for android, but times are moving fast. Videochat is moving mobile. I want to be able to videochat with people on another computer or droid cell phone from my iPhone 4 through skype I don't care if its through facetime, update the app.
chrisdownes commented Friday, Oct 8
How about Skype video for ps3 and Sony TV's? Or even better a cheap device for any TV which connects wirelessly to home networks and logs into skype without the need for a PC. Mobile is also an issue. What about opening up Skype to allow federation with other platforms?
Skype started off by freeing us from the grip of telco's, but is now doing the same thing by restricting it's openess
adam.israel commented Friday, Oct 8
I agree. This wouldn't have anything to do with Cisco ūmi would it?
P.S. Is there an expected date for Skype on Samsung Galaxy S?
larsottar1 commented Wednesday, Oct 20
Hi,
Quoting; "It's available across many different platforms like desktop computers, mobiles, TVs and more."
Does this mean you can call a Mac from a Panasonic TV now?
Cheers
Lars Ottar