Phil Wolff at Skype Journal is observing the fifth anniversary of Skype with a series: "What Skype Means to Me."

Here's a sampler:

Bill Vick, co-author of "Linkedin for Recruiting" said Skype "opened up new worlds to me and the many others I network with." He uses Skype Video to interview thought leaders in his field. Having conducted 60 interviews, he found that his subjects, most of whom were new to Skype, had no problem learning the technology. In fact, he said: "Without exception they are all incorporating Skype video into their business model."

He said some of his interviews have generated thousands of views.

Andrew Y Ng, of San Francisco, writes how he started using Skype to talk with his girlfriend who was in London for the summer and then started using Skype for IM and for group chats. "I was amazed how I could get to know someone across the globe so well via Skype," he said. As vice president of technology at OnMyList.com, he used Skype group chat as a collaboration tool. Now as a freelance consultant, he and his partner in Washinton, D.C., get "70% of the work done together via Skypevoice chat and iChat screen sharing. We would have Skype voice chats for over 12 hours and it works flawlessly."

Ng concludes: "So what Skype means to me? It means staying closer to my closest friends and family, it means saving cost while running my own consulting practice, it means getting things done and collaborating effectively."

Keep watching Skype Journal's series.