[citation][nom]ProDigit80[/nom]I personally think skype misses something that MSN messenger has.Many people I know feel better with messenger, perhaps it's just the icons, or the layout or the extra things like gifts or programs or games...Also, with the emerge of facebook, I think people feel like they keep in touch with just about everyone. The need for direct messaging service might decrease a bit.People have cellphones, can text message eachother, and can go online fill out blogs, or use MSN.I myself stopped using IRC, or skype a long time ago.I stopped using MSN for about 2 years now.I mainly use facebook, and find that is enough for me, next to my hotmail, which is more person to person.We can always call our near friends. I don't think there is any lack in ways of communicating.I think clients like trillian, yahoo messenger, skype, etc.. they will see less and less people connecting to it...I think it's a dying program, that has not seen many structural changes, facelifts or so, in other words, much like netscpe will be forgotten, in oblivion.[/citation]
Skype isn't an IM client at its core, it's a telecommunications platform. You'd see an instant reason for Skype if you had a friend in another country. For instance, my wife calls me using Skype when I'm in Europe for business. If she calls my German cell directly its 24 cents a minute, if she calls my hotel room it's 3 cents a minute. Great thing is she doesn't have to be at a PC to do it. Skype will let you setup a local number that acts as a relay for phone calls abroad so she calls that number and it relays to my German numbers.
Now you might be thinking that's still expensive but to call me in Germany from her cell phone was going to cost upwards of $1.2 a minute, so Skype is seriously cheaper.