Skype as a Service ... not a Client

From Michael Arrington's conversation with Skype CEO Jonathan Christensen:

"Eventually, we suspect, Skype will release a SDK that allows developers to integrate deep into Skype and make calls over the Skype service without opening the Skype client. In other words, people may start to think of Skype (voice, video, chat) as a service rather than a client that must be installed and used to communicate. Today’s tools, which include a public API and the now defunct Extras program, require developers to open the Skype client to make a call."

Comments

[twitter.com/PaulSweeney]

I think this might dovetail nicely into the "skype everywhere" strategy. The question becomes what exactly Skype are able to charge for (i.e. nobody makes a lot of money from api calls, and advertising is a very elusive model).