I had lunch with the only person with any experience, the UX researcher/ethnographer (six months out of post-doc) who was... way over everything. I had three interviews from people at most three months out of university (nothing but the same two brain-teasers) overall, the place seemed like completely lacking self-awareness. Then someone who I recognised from their LinkedIn photo passed me, I said hi-they were surprised and thought the interview wasn’t happening. I waited more than an hour, thought about leaving, hoping they wouldn’t mind paying for my hotel room and flight either way. Probably one of the most shocking experiences in many aspects: they flew me from Europe, no one was ready to talk to me, or knew I was coming at all. I interviewed there, soon after the acquisition, maybe nine months. > I'm looking forward to a Microsoft insider's exposé
It's remarkable that if Microsoft had done nothing with Skype other than simply keeping it up-to-date with new releases of Windows, OS X, Linux, etc., it would be a far superior product.Īs far as I can tell, only two things keep it alive: the tremendous installed base from when it was a much esteemed program and the fact that it runs on everything - making it the common denominator when the grumpy Windows desktop guy needs to video chat with the hipster on the newest iPad Pro. Since the Microsoft acquisition, every single aspect of Skype has gotten worse. It was indeed loved in its pre-Microsoft heyday around 2008-2010: I remember an international student telling me that Skype changed her life because she could stay in audio & video contact with her family overseas.
I'm looking forward to a Microsoft insider's exposé on what really happened inside the Skype team to destroy such a beloved product.
I never quite understood why Microsoft is so hell-bent on adding stupid features, removing useful ones and creating unwanted re-designs for Skype instead improving core features.