Life at Skype

Skype President Josh Silverman in a rare blog entry discusses the importance of listening to customers and how it shapes Skype product development.

He said Skype is taking consumer input so seriously it now has a weekly "Feedback War Room to keep things right - a first in our almost five-year history."

He said: "You may have noticed the mid-June launch of Skype 4.0 beta 1 for Windows. While creating this revamped version of Skype was partly a practical move - not unlike moving from a tiny student flat to a more spacious home - it also belies a significant effort to analyze Skype's evolving role in people's lives and to see the findings reflected in how it looks, behaves and interacts. As one user put it, these days, Skype is 'more than just a chat program'."

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I'd like to tell you about an opportunity for the entire Skype community to get involved in an important Internet community event.

OneWebDay is an Earth Day for the Internet that takes place each September 22nd. 2008 is the third OneWebDay. This year, OneWebDay is focusing attention around the world on the importance of the internet to political participation.

Skype's own Christopher Libertelli has joined the cause as one of 100 OneWebDay ambassadors. On each of the 100 days leading up to September 22nd, a different ambassador is reaching out to his or her community about OneWebDay.

We're encouraging people to talk (and do something) about internet issues that worry them - censorship, the digital divide and inadequate connectivity, in general.

The idea behind OneWebDay is to create a platform for a global constituency that cares about the future of the internet. We make progress when we make things visible, and with OneWebDay we're showing that this global constituency exists.

For more information about OneWebDay, check out its website, or have a look at the OneWebDay starter kit for keen participants.

Just to introduce myself. I am Howard Wolinsky, your friendly neighborhood blogger from Chicago. I recently left the Chicago Sun-Times, where I was a tech writer and before that a medical writer. I was among the first journos to cover the AIDS crisis and also among the first to cover the internet.

Check me out at GapersBlock, a popular Chicago blog run by Andrew Huff, a former student of mine at the University of Chicago.

I have long been a fan of internet communications—going back to the geeky "internet telephony" era—and have been a Skype user. As a part-time freelancer, I used Skype to cut my phone bills and to extend my reach for sources to Europe and beyond. Thank you, Skype.

Now as a full-time freelancer, I expect to do more with Skype. I will share my adventures on planet Skype and hope you will do the same.