How did you create Skype? Who came up with Skype? The whole history of Skype

Communication is one of the main components of our life. The development of technology pushed the letters, written by hand, to the "backyard", giving the palm to the IT-tools. The latter include mobile communications and the Internet. With their help you can freely communicate, being hundreds of thousands of kilometers apart. Now we do not run to the mailbox - we are rushing to the computer with all the legs, when Skype's call melodically and sonorous begins to ring.

The leading utility for communication

Without exaggeration, we can say that this program is a kind of symbol of freedom on the Internet. Many users of this utility are seriously interested in how Skype was created and who was its founder? There are many opinions about this issue. And most of them are false. Interestingly, many Danes and Swedes say with absolute certainty that the developers of Skype are their compatriots. However, this is not entirely true. This article tells about who invented Skype in reality and how this utility won recognition worldwide.

Estonian roots

Everyone is probably aware of a small beautiful European country whose name automatically evokes a smile - Estonia. For some reason, the population of the former Soviet Union is associated only with the slowness and slowness of its citizens. What is the surprise of many, when it becomes known that the creation of Skype is the work of Estonian guys. Agree, it's incredible that this country with a slow course of life is the birthplace of one of the fastest programs for communication on the Internet. This fact contains, it would seem, a hidden hint of an absolutely false idea of the temperament and character of Estonians.

The origin and development of the utility

The history of Skype began in 2003. It was then, about 11 years ago, that the Estonian guys Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Ian Tallinn developed the original code, which was the foundation of the future program. At that time, they also worked on a utility for exchanging files between users of the Internet. This program is called KaZaa. Together with Estonian young people, the founders of the described file sharing worked on this project: Danish Janus Friis and Swedish Nicholas Zenshtorm. In the process of working, not even the slow guys designed the code, which became the basis for the future interactive program.

In parallel with the creation of Skype, programmers studied the requirements and wishes of users of the World Wide Web. It became clear that people already do not have a simple chat. Therefore, the team of creators decided to give the utility all the possible functions that will facilitate not only written communication, but also video communication, as well as the exchange of various data.

Choose a name

The original name for the utility was "Sky peer-to-peer", which in translation means "In the sky with each other". Then the team chose the shortened version of "Skyper". However, in the process of registering domains within the World Wide Web, it was discovered that this name is already occupied on many resources. As a result, young people "threw back" the last letter "r" from the name and opted for a simple and concise "Skype". This process of selecting the name took several months. The final decision was made in April 2003. The result was the successful registration of domains with the names Skype.net and Skype.com.

Full version and growth of popularity

In August of the same year, an official program was launched in the open access of the Internet, which had virtually all the functionality planned by the developers. The so-called beta version was released to the network in order to obtain detailed information about errors and malfunctions. While creating Skype, programmers decided in the future, as far as possible, to introduce into their "child" the functions that consumers want to see. It is thanks to the beta version that developers have gathered enough information about the tastes and preferences of users, which allowed them to create a quick and utility-friendly utility.

The first full version became available to users already in the autumn of 2003. It is noteworthy that for several months the number of users of this program has grown hundreds of thousands of times. A huge number of people thanked those talented programmers who came up with Skype.

Advantages of the utility

What attracted the users of this program?

For starters, it's free use. The minimum and necessary set of functions for communication is available completely free of charge. What is remarkable, among them the leading position is taken by video communication. For many people who live from each other for hundreds of thousands of kilometers, this mode is an excellent opportunity to be closer to each other.

The second item is quick registration. In order to become a member of a large "Skype family" it is enough to enter the address of your mailbox in the field, choose a nickname and password. And that's all. Now you can enjoy.

Another utility has a convenient and intuitive interface. Thanks to a well-designed toolbar, you can easily switch modes, change tabs and customize the program. The fourth item is a convenient and quick search for the interlocutor. Just go to the "Contacts" tab and click "Add contact". Enter the name for the search and in the window that appears, select the one we need. A request to add to the contact list will be sent at the same time.

Of course, the huge advantage of Skype over other programs for communication is the presence of a large number of different functions. The first and most common (as with all similar and similar utilities) is the ability to send and receive simple text messages. The presence of video calls made Skype the leading application for contact of distant interlocutors. In addition, using the program you can share various files: send photos, documents, music, videos and stuff.

The first problem

Two years after the release of the program, the first unpleasant event for the developers occurred. Trying to connect the population of China to the new mobile version of the utility, the team of young programmers received serious resistance in the face of local telecommunications companies. The reason for this was the fear of Asian corporations to lose control over the conquered segments of the market. Only a few Chinese companies made concessions and agreed to add the SkypeOut application to their mobile phones.

Sale and return

The rapid growth of popularity attracted the attention of large companies to this program. In 2005, the developers sold their "brainchild". The buyer was eBay, which offered an interactive utility of 2.6 billion dollars. After a while, the corporation, known around the world for its online auctions and PayPal payment system, paid bonuses to developers of the program, increasing the cost of Skype by 500 million. The history of the creation and modernization of the utility includes another owner. In 2011, eBay sold the rights to the program back to developers and their attracted investor - Microsoft. The deal amounted to $ 8.5 billion.

At the moment this is the full version of the story about how to create Skype. A lot of developers are still ahead. A huge number of plans are faced by programmers. We can only look forward to new and improved versions of Skype's interactive communication program.