Skype tries competing with Zoom by reminding people that they don’t need the app or an account to make a call

Skype is trying to make it as easy as possible to use its video calling software and remind people that using the app isn’t complicated. The company tweeted a reminder today that users can now start a video meeting and invite people to it without using the app or even having an account; the process is done completely on the web. (People can start a call from here.) Skype is likely hoping this feature gives it a leg up on some of its competitors, namely Zoom, which has dominated the video calling conversation ever since the pandemic started. Skype has mostly been left out of most video calling mentions. Read More

Skype has its own share of security problems. A hacker stole my Skype account password and linked the account to a G-Mail account that he (or she) had opened under a false identity, thereby preventing me from changing the password. The hacker then attempted to blackmail me, claiming that he had used my Skype account to access my webcam and to take compromising videos of me. He demanded payment from me in the form of bitcoins for not revealing these compromising videos online. I suspect that he may have done the same thing to a number of people, hoping to eventually find someone who had a guilty conscience, who would fall for his scam, and who might meet his demands.

As I noted yesterday, I think that we can expect people to use several apps rather than rely on a single app. What is important is that people have a number of options from which they may choose to maintain contact with family members, relatives, friends, and colleagues.

image credit: techcrunch.com