What Do Skype and the Wheel Have in Common?

Believe it or not—a lot. Keep reading....?

No doubt you have read of the final demise of SKYPE. It was created by Nordic entrepreneurs and brought to market in 2003. Two years later, they sold it to eBay for $2.6 billion...then, six years later, Ebay sold it to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. It was their? largest acquisition?made at the time.?

And what an acquisition! By 2016, SKYPE had 300 million users….but MSFT didn't keep up with the evolving market through service or innovations for its customer base as they might have. WhatsApp, Slack, and Smartphone native applications drove their user base down to 36 million by 2023….not to mention COVID and the explosive growth of ZOOM.?

But what about the wheel? Stay the course….

I was an early, early SKYPE user….what a game changer. My first call was electric!!!! No phone or cell….I even connected from airplanes (although the quality sucked). It was simply the fact that I could. I used it like we use Teams and others use Zoom to connect multiple people in groups. We developed our own protocols…and of course, the one-to-one communication seemed intimate as it wasn't overused or even that widespread at the start. It felt innovative and new…game-changing. I imagine many of you had the same or similar feelings. .

Do I need to remind you of the billions of dollars the telecoms lost…or rather…didn't make??

Anyway...MSFT bought it and closed it after years of decline. Now, we have Teams….which SKYPE users can fully migrate to…if they so wish. But let's be clear—100% clear—this is not a loss for MSFT. It's the opposite. There are strong arguments to be made that it helped save them from growing irrelevancy back then as it drove immense learnings in tech, use cases, service/support needs, and more.??

And, according to many analysts, it more than paid for itself when you look at Zoom's valuation and factor in the 20-year run. So, MSFT detractors, it's the wrong tree to bark up. As I've written many times…I don't ever bet against MSFT or APPLE in the long run.?

And, here we come to the WHEEL and the phrase that we all know: WHY REINVENT THE WHEEL? It's a phrase that some say is outdated and anti-innovation…."break things" would be more in tune with our times.?

Here is where the lesson lies to learn from SKYPE and the WHEEL convergence.?

Let me clear. The WHEEL has never been reinvented. Rather, it has undergone profound upgrading and incredible new applications and has gone to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.?

Wheels are a part of everything from the moment we wake up until we sleep. Take a moment (seriously), and simply marvel at the myriad ways wheels affect your life. Feel free to share…?

Yes…It's a great provocation to suggest that each change is a reinvention…but frankly, to me, it insults our ancient ancestors who first came up with this so simple (why didn't I think of it?) marvel as his compatriots schlepped their way across the landscape, and he pulled up in his Tesla…?

More…I really do believe (as I have written many times) that we misunderstand Technology and the APPLICATION of Technology…so much so that we label some companies Big Tech and outsize their valuations. In reality, they have the smart insight to apply existing tech to real use cases (innovation—not reinvention),…much like the thousands of years of wheel innovation. It's hard to call my Vitamix smoothie maker a wheel reinvention….But I appreciate its innovation every time I create a new smoothie.?

SKYPE is wheel-like as it took technology, applied it to a use case, and then took it all and started making smoothies—metaphorically, of course. Teams…Zoom…whatever…are all based on the same underlying technology but each has applied its own insights, view of user needs, service, and UX…but there is no reinvention…just huge innovation. Even Tesla, for all the hype, didn't reinvent the car. Opposite. They sold it as a muscle car…not some green savior of the planet…as cool as it is, but do fix the cold weather issues….?

As new tech replaces old, we change the wheel...sometimes on the go as we ride, although the insight and use cases remain the same.?

Think about music and VHS cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs, the Walkman and MP3 players…all gone. Done….for the most part, although a growing number of folks (myself included)….have returned to vinyl records, turntables, amps, and real speakers because of the experience. YES….the rest are good, as the essential UX was re-imagined by new tech, but the need to watch and listen is as old as humanity.

So, was the wheel reinvented?

I'm ready to concede that when the tech changes completely—yes. But the wheel still turns, Teams still brings you into my devices, and the world goes round and round.

Here is a final thought as we ponder innovation, investment, prioritization, and competitiveness.

“Don’t reinvent the wheel, just realign it.”? —Anthony J. D’Angelo

Think about that next time you get on your skateboard….

What’s your rolling view?