

160 People: Skype 5 for Mac = Fail. Skype: No Comment - jv22222
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=756073

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Kylekramer
If companies dropped everything when a handful of people whined about an
interface change in an application, website, or anything of the like, there
would never be any updates. This isn't a ringing endorsement of Skype 5 for
Mac, but companies can't be held hostage by a few people who don't like
change.

~~~
trustfundbaby
So do you just conflate all criticism into the 'whining' bucket?

A lot of people on that thread were very specific in their feedback. Both
pointing out their grouses and what could be done to fix them, so I disagree
with your unkind characterization that they were just a 'few people who don't
like change'

The least Skype could have done was post a simple

"Thank you for the posts, we are evaluating all your feedback"

Too much to ask?

~~~
bruceboughton
I suspect Kylekramer is reacting to the inflammatory HN headline.

~~~
kilian
...Which also happens to be the inflammatory thread topic on the Skype forum.

Grandparent: There might be all sorts of good intentions, criticism and
suggestions in the thread, but if you start out with "new skype = FAIL", well,
you're going to have a hard time framing that as constructive.

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swombat
160? Every time Facebook changes something they get a million people signing a
petition and vowing to quit if Facebook doesn't change it back.

~~~
JacobAldridge
I wonder what Valuation Facebook would have it it were Mac only?

I actually agree with your point, but comparing Facebook users (fraction of
500 million) to Skype for Mac users (unknown to me, but I would suggest less)
is not a straight comparison.

~~~
petsos
It is also much easier to complain about Facebook in Facebook that to find the
right forum in skype.com and post something there.

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zmitri
To be fair, they did address some of these concerns in the latest update of 5.
The text is smaller and spacing is much tighter. Definitely an improvement. My
biggest concern is that 5 doesn't allow flash apps to access your web cam when
it's running.

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andrewcurioso
There are a couple comments here saying that software developers shouldn't
bend to the will of a vocal minority that doesn't like change. I completely
agree.

However, this is not the case here. I use Skype daily for business and I can
say that not a single person that I know who upgraded likes the changes. That
isn't a few squeaky wheels.

Granted 20 people isn's statisticly significant, but when it is hated by 20
people in a sample size of 20 you have to wonder a bit.

I'm sure a lot of people love it; but I'm not one.

~~~
alxp
I like it. Automatically having a group chat when you make a call with
multiple people, and saving group chats in your history are the two things
that have kept me using the Skype 5 and not downgrading. And now that the
focus problem when app switching bug is fixed I really don't have any major
problems with it.

~~~
andrewcurioso
So there's one person! ;)

I haven't downgraded either, I keep thinking that I'll get used to it and it
will get better.

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jarin
I'm usually pretty receptive of major UI changes, but I hate Skype's new UI.
It's hard to find contacts, it's weird how everything is piled into this giant
window, and it took me 5 minutes to find the dial pad.

~~~
andrewcurioso
I agree completely. I actually had to re-dial into a conference line the first
time I used it because it took me too long to find the dial pad to type in my
pin.

------
Hates_
Reads exactly how much Facebook wall sounds when Facebook update their UI. The
temptation is always to listen to your most vocal unhappy customers while the
vast majority carry on happy.

~~~
gte910h
Yeah, it's just not a well organized program IMO. It likely needs an expensive
UI consultant and an expensive redo of many screens to really handle the 3-4
ways people work with it.

There are the Eurobusiness people who live in it, the Eurobusiness people who
live work and play in it, the casual users who use it for the occasional phone
call, the teens who use it as a substitute for AIM and everyone else from what
I can see. Basically, they're trying to compromise on that, and not doing a
great job.

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mbesto
Reminds of digg v4...unfortunately in this case people do pay for Skype's
service. I, being one of them. I will not be upgrading my client anytime soon.

~~~
igorgue
It still makes calls right? It's not like the software doesn't work; It does
and better than most solutions.

I like multi-video-chat so I can bare with the ugly interface.

~~~
mbesto
True, but so does my telephone. The reason reddit wins is because the
experience is better there. Since this is a B2B (in my case) model I consider
this a regression in the solution I'm paying for. Luckily I have the option to
not upgrade.

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marcc
I just installed it and my initial impression is that a lot of work went into
this new UI, and it's not bad. I think it could use a few changes, but I'm not
complaining. Personally, I don't like how big all of the windows are, the fact
that I haven't figured out a way to hide the contact sidebar, and when I open
the Contacts Monitor window (command + 3), it uses a large font which can't be
resized. To someone who uses Skype frequently, this might be nice. Maybe I'm
not the typical use case, I generally use Skype as IM or voice only and not
that often, but I like to keep it running all of the time. Now I will, but
I'll keep it running hidden or in the dock, not on the screen.

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mydigitalself
So let's just think about this for a moment.

When Facebook introduced the Feed back in 2006, hundreds of thousands of
people protest. Hundreds of thousands. They even had a physical protest
outside on their lawn. I think many of you will agree, The Feed is Facebook.

Then they made some other tweaks in 2009 with Top News and MILLIONS of people
protested in groups.

Need I talk about Apple and floppy drives?

To date, there are 397 people protesting on
<http://www.facebook.com/betterSkype5>

You can't please everyone all the time at scale.

~~~
jv22222
Facebook is a social network that makes it easy for people to group together
and complain about the thing they are using.

For someone to complain about the Skype UI it is much harder, they would
actually have to seek out a forum and register with the forum.

So 397 folks actively seeking out and registering + 160 registering to Skype's
own forum does say something, no?

I wonder how many people really don't like it, but are living with it because
they can't be bothered to seek out and register to complain!

~~~
mydigitalself
The Facebook page has the same viral effect (if you Like it, it will show up
to all of your friends). So don't buy that.

Was just skimming back through the forum link again, about 50% of the comments
appear to be new forum users. So some validity in that I guess. Although, have
you ever registered on a forum to say you like something or is it normally a
complaint/wanting to be heard.

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nathanb
Skype have completely ignored Linux users for years now. That their attitude
toward Mac users is similar doesn't come as a big surprise.

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marksands07
I, for one, like the new Skype. I think they did a great job with the
redesign. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this.

~~~
six70one
I do enjoy the new layout. The "iChat/AIM/ICQ" UI paradigm was due to be re-
invented eventually. I think the only thing that is really missing is the
"full-screen" video. Either that or I just haven't found where they hid the
button...

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whalesalad
I don't personally know anyone who dislikes Skype 5 for Mac. I love it. There
are complainers in this world, but indeed as most have described this is a
drop in the ocean of Mac Skype users. I can count at least 4 people who love
it, and no one has told me they dislike it.

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Semiapies
Link is to a complaint thread starting early last November about the now-ended
Beta.

The most recent posts appear to be me-toos along the lines of "What was wrong
with the simple 2.8 Skype UI - NOTHING ! it was just too old and needed some
new futures[sic]."

------
jv22222
Out of curiosity have you used Skype version 5 on a Mac? What do you think of
it?

~~~
petsos
I hate it. In a decreasing level of importance:

\- I hate that they removed the contact list. There is an online contacts
window, but it stays always on top and can't view/change your status from
there.

\- You can't pop a video call window out. This is insane, you can't video chat
with someone and text chat with some one else at the same time. Screen sharing
is almost unusable. This is actually reduced functionality compared to 2.x.

\- There is empty space everywhere.

\- It feels like they are pushing you to buy stuff everywhere.

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5teev
Adium betas? Probably. Skype betas? No, don't think so.

I've heard only deep regret from friends who tried the new Skype for Mac.

~~~
andrewcurioso
Same here, I've heard (almost) entirely criticism. Plus, I am a paid Skype
customer. It is a little different when you're using a free app like Adium or
a free website like Facebook or Digg.

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grandalf
It works fine for me.

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ddemchuk
doesn't skype have like 10 million users online at any given time? 160 upset
people is like dropping salt into the ocean.

~~~
calloc
Well, there's only like 300 Mac users ;-) That's more than half!

All joking aside, a lot of Mac users are just sticking to the older 2.x series
for their Skype client rather than upgrading, so if a 160 people decided it
was worth their time to complain on the Skype forums there are probably many
more!

~~~
ddemchuk
true, good point. I upgraded to the beta when it came out a while back on my
13" air and I'm perfectly fine with the sizing. The new update made things
even smaller/better. I run my Skype on a different Spaces section though so
screen real estate isn't an issue for me.

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mahmud
Ignoring people is the new black: Skype is pulling a Mubarak.

<http://twitter.com/BigThingist/statuses/35031167392686080>

