Microsoft are closing Skype

 I had an email this morning from Microsoft to tell me they are closing Skype.

Back in the early days Skype was invaluable, allowing me to keep in touch with my parents who lived overseas - allowing me to call my father daily as my mother was slowly dying, and the same thing to my brother when my father died, not to mention interminable conversations with lawyers on the other side of the planet to sort out his estate.

I used to use Skype to call home when travelling overseas, and for work calls to colleagues overseas and in Australia.

Through sheer inertia, I still have a Skype account and a Skype number, even though the need for them has disappeared.

Once, when internet coverage was patchy, long distance and international calls were still pricy, and phones didn't support internet calling, the ability to call someone's land line or mobile for a few cents was a godsend.

Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone, and we have alternatives such as WhatsApp, Google Meet, and Zoom, the pandemic darling application, Skype has perhaps outlived its usefulness.

Still, it was good while it lasted, and almost unique as an application that genuinely added to the quality of life.