THE POST PC

More via this New York Times article on Microsoft’s purchase of Skype, one year later:

One of Skype’s most recent efforts, a version of the calling software for smartphones that run Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, has received disappointing reviews. When users shut the Skype application down on their Windows Phones, they can no longer receive calls. In the same situation on iPhones and other devices, Skype users receive a notification of an incoming call.

Brian O’Shaughnessy, a spokesman for Skype, said that shortcoming would be addressed in a future version of the software.

Leave it to Microsoft to screw this one up. Buy a well-know service whose goal is to be on every platform, everywhere, and then have it run poorly, or not run at all, on your newest smartphones.

It’s been one year since Microsoft purchased Skype. The New York Times interviewed Tony Bates, who’s still the head of Skype, about how the acquisition has gone:

In an interview in his spacious office here in Palo Alto, Mr. Bates, an affable Briton, said he insisted that his employees receive new security badges stamped with the Skype logo, not the standard Microsoft badges.

Another sign of his independence is the Apple MacBook Air on his desk. While using Apple products publicly is not unheard-of among Microsoft executives, it is nevertheless considered a mild form of sacrilege at a company where everyone is expected to fly the Windows flag.

“We’ve kept our identity and our autonomy,” Mr. Bates, 45, said.

Somewhere, Steve Ballmer is throwing a chair.