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> Using our technology, you’ll be able to interact with Skype callers across the globe – this includes experts, interviewees, audiences and even big-name stars.

> Using our technology, you’ll be able to interact with Skype callers across the globe – this includes experts, interviewees, audiences and even big-name stars. Wow, it even works for big-name stars! Who writes this stuff, and who are they writing it for? It's just insulting.

untog 13y ago
They're writing it for people that aren't on Hacker News. The fact that the domain name is "media.skype.com" ought to give you a strong clue.
- phren0logy 13y ago
  "People who aren't on Hacker News" also includes a lot of people who understand that the technical requirements to show a talking picture of a human does not vary by notoriety.
  - untog 13y ago
    OK, I'll be even more specific, if it helps: it's a press release. It's designed for lowest common denominator reading, they have absolutely nothing to lose by writing in such a way that every single person is able to grasp the idea of what they're selling.
Angostura 13y ago
In this case 'Big name stars' is implying: "It's so simple and easy even people with no technical knowledge, and even those with minimal interest in making the effort to speak to you will be willing to use it". It isn't discussing the technical aspects, outside of usability. It's also suggesting that it is useful for glossy, premium-quality interviews that would usually need dedicated kit and camera crew - not just in warzones, ad hoc news interviews and vox pops. It's quite cleverly written for the target audience.
- mark212 13y ago
  I also read it as: "audio and video are good enough to satisfy the agents / managers / PR people for the folks who get paid a lot of money to care about how their image and voice is presented to the public."
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
elwell 13y ago
It's written to give suggestions/ideas of use cases, not to specify the technical limitations. A potential client reading this for the first time may not realize this product is applicable to their domain.
pradn 13y ago
You're nitpicking uselessly.
bmelton 13y ago
I can't remember the name of the service used, but Barack Obama (a big name star) held a phone call using a service not too dissimilar from this one, and it crashed, big. Overall, I think that the team was able to recover fairly well, but the news of the crash was fodder for political opponents for a while -- the irony (IIRC) being that he was hosting the conference call to discuss the status of HealthCare.gov with his supporters, and at the time, the stability of HealthCare.gov was somewhat farcical itself. Hosting that call on a conference call service that was also unstable was just too much for conservative media. Saying that it works with "big name stars" is a pretty terse way of countering that objection to sale, and has to assuage the minds of actual big name stars likely to use it.

untog 13y ago

They're writing it for people that aren't on Hacker News. The fact that the domain name is "media.skype.com" ought to give you a strong clue.

phren0logy 13y ago
"People who aren't on Hacker News" also includes a lot of people who understand that the technical requirements to show a talking picture of a human does not vary by notoriety.
- untog 13y ago
  OK, I'll be even more specific, if it helps: it's a press release. It's designed for lowest common denominator reading, they have absolutely nothing to lose by writing in such a way that every single person is able to grasp the idea of what they're selling.

Angostura 13y ago

In this case 'Big name stars' is implying: "It's so simple and easy even people with no technical knowledge, and even those with minimal interest in making the effort to speak to you will be willing to use it". It isn't discussing the technical aspects, outside of usability. It's also suggesting that it is useful for glossy, premium-quality interviews that would usually need dedicated kit and camera crew - not just in warzones, ad hoc news interviews and vox pops. It's quite cleverly written for the target audience.

mark212 13y ago
I also read it as: "audio and video are good enough to satisfy the agents / managers / PR people for the folks who get paid a lot of money to care about how their image and voice is presented to the public."

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

elwell 13y ago

It's written to give suggestions/ideas of use cases, not to specify the technical limitations. A potential client reading this for the first time may not realize this product is applicable to their domain.

pradn 13y ago

You're nitpicking uselessly.

bmelton 13y ago

I can't remember the name of the service used, but Barack Obama (a big name star) held a phone call using a service not too dissimilar from this one, and it crashed, big. Overall, I think that the team was able to recover fairly well, but the news of the crash was fodder for political opponents for a while -- the irony (IIRC) being that he was hosting the conference call to discuss the status of HealthCare.gov with his supporters, and at the time, the stability of HealthCare.gov was somewhat farcical itself. Hosting that call on a conference call service that was also unstable was just too much for conservative media. Saying that it works with "big name stars" is a pretty terse way of countering that objection to sale, and has to assuage the minds of actual big name stars likely to use it.