MS v. Google? v. Apple? After reading this, and the comments, and a little thinking about it, the more this makes sense. MS has a clear weakness in its lineup.

MS v. Google? v. Apple? After reading this, and the comments, and a little thinking about it, the more this makes sense. MS has a clear weakness in its lineup. Skype brings a bunch of existing technology and know-how, not to mention all those sweet, sweet users. Multiply by some factor of Ballmer being an idiot, and 8.5 is almost reasonable. Part of what convinced me - and I realize HN comments are anectdotal - was people's impressions of Skype and Google Voice (I've done no more than played with each). From the sounds of it, Skype's biggest issue is its UI. MS has plenty of experience (and some success ;) with good UIs and backend work. Other than that, it satisfies its basic function well: it makes the calls. It sounds like Google Voice, at least internationally, isn't as straightforward. So, they get the users, and a jump on the tech. Okay, decent, but not great, business decision. Will they turn it into something successful? Ehhhh, I have my doubts. Who knows? Ballmer isn't actually an idiot; maybe he's learned something by now. *Edit - spelling