Skype commercializes Christmas

December 14, 2005

I don't usually gripe when VoIP vendors use Christmas as a means to promote and commercialize their products, as long as it is in "taste". For instance, Packet8 for the past fews years has promoted (via press releases) the fact that you can use the Packet8 videophone to call and SEE Santa Claus. Now that is cool and certainly newsworthy. Some parents might even buy the Packet8 videophone just so their kids can call Santa Claus.

But what annoyed me this morning was a press release by Skype that starts by saying, "Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced the latest Skype certified products available in retail stores and online in time for the holidays. Select products are now available on Skype's U.S. Web store at skype.com/store." It then goes on to list a plethora of Skype-related products including Icemat's Siberia Multi Headset, Sennheiser Communications Headsets (non-specific), Skype Starter Pack, Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit, Linksys CIT200 Internet Telephony Kit, Logitech QuickCam Fusion and QuickCam for Notebooks, RTX DUALPhone, and VoIPvoice Cyberphone-K. Geez, can they squeeze any more Skype products in a single release? Later on it says, "In the U.S., gifts ordered online by December 20 will arrive in time for Christmas."

Are any of these products new? Nope. Are any of them somehow related to Christmas? Nope. Did Skype at least attempt to tie any of the products to a Christmas theme? Nope.

All this is is a compilation of Skype products slapped together, with the "Christmas" label added in and then this was spammed to the news wires. Skype earns today's "Greedy Scrooge Award"



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