Once upon a time, internet-based phone service was “the future”; now tech watchers are wondering about its future survival. Online auction site Ebay announced this week that it’s selling internet voice-and-video conferencing tool Skype for almost $2 billion. Were the two companies simply strange bedfellows? Or did eBay dump Skype because Skype’s voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is no longer the frontrunner in voice technology?
We speak to Cliff Kuang, who’s written about this for Wired magazine, and Takeaway technology contributor Baratunde Thurston, host of the new TV show Popular Science’s “Future Of” and a former telecommunications analyst.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?