[kb5zht]

Yes, we may have succeeded in sending 2000+ emails, but I think that true success in this aspect would be getting the results we wanted...which is Skype made available for the Playbook.

Yes the same thing was going through my mind.... 2,000+ emails is good, but why call it a success and of all things tell people to quit emailing them? wouldnt it be more effective if 5k-10k emails flooded their email boxes? Or, reading between the lines, were there threats issued regarding lawsuits? Im sensing that there were warnings given possibly with legal letterheads.

And on that note, if left at 2,000 give or take, i got news for you... thats not enough. The company could easily read that as only a few thousand in a market of millions are interested... and behind closed doors in board meetings that could easily be twisted as "lack of interest" and "proof they shouldnt bother with the playbook platform".

Thats what I want to know.... why the emphasis on telling people to quit emailing them?

[BB_makes_it_happen]

i would think any smart executive would know 2000 would be a small sample of those who are actively trying to change things. The passive number would be much much larger.

This campaign also has a multiplier effect.

For each of those 2000+ active voices there is at least one Skype recipient.

it is very easy to imagine 4000 active voices (or more) in this campaign.

Nice work.

[Dafunkhead]

Great job everyoone.

[newcollector]

Yes the same thing was going through my mind.... 2,000+ emails is good, but why call it a success and of all things tell people to quit emailing them? wouldnt it be more effective if 5k-10k emails flooded their email boxes? Or, reading between the lines, were there threats issued regarding lawsuits? Im sensing that there were warnings given possibly with legal letterheads.

And on that note, if left at 2,000 give or take, i got news for you... thats not enough. The company could easily read that as only a few thousand in a market of millions are interested... and behind closed doors in board meetings that could easily be twisted as "lack of interest" and "proof they shouldnt bother with the playbook platform".

Thats what I want to know.... why the emphasis on telling people to quit emailing them?

Let's not lose sight of the purpose of the email campaign. 2,000 emails respectfully written arriving on the same day would get anyone's attention. Will it make Skype appear for PlayBook? Probably not. Will it get their attention...yes. This campaign is but one of many to raise awareness.

In my work I have to do some direct mail campaigns. I can expect one tenth of a percent of mailed items to lead to a sale. I mail out 10,000 per month. Though direct sales are small, the mailings will often get a 1% interest response. Interest is peaked. Information is shared. Relationships are built, and then down the road, a sale is made.

We need to do this again. We need to encourage more PlayBook owners to get involved. The more real the numbers, the greater impact we can have. Remember, the old adage is, "For every 10 people that show interest, there are 100 more who would if they knew about your product/service. Our 2,000 represents 20,000.

[acwells]

I think that the bigger question is who doesn't want Skype on blackberrys.

Think about it. The app exists for specific carriers. Why? Why isn't it available for all blackberrys? We aren't just talking the playbook but all of Rims products. It is my firm belief that RIM was pressured by carriers to block the implementation of Skype on their platforms. There are way more Blackberry devices out there than say Webos and yet Skype comes preloaded on the touchpad!

I think it is more Skype isn't allowed to create one for the playbook rather than its not worth it.

[Sith_Apprentice]

I think that the bigger question is who doesn't want Skype on blackberrys.

Think about it. The app exists for specific carriers. Why? Why isn't it available for all blackberrys? We aren't just talking the playbook but all of Rims products. It is my firm belief that RIM was pressured by carriers to block the implementation of Skype on their platforms. There are way more Blackberry devices out there than say Webos and yet Skype comes preloaded on the touchpad!

I think it is more Skype isn't allowed to create one for the playbook rather than its not worth it.

Playbook has NOTHING to do with any carriers. How could they possibly exert pressure on RIM for this?

[07thking]

Wow, good stuff! I'm happy I played my part and sent 2 emails. I really hope this brings great results. Thanks for starting this campaign.

[JoziGrrl]

I sent four (2 for myself and 2 for my DH), BCC the gmail account and joined the Facebook group. Hopefully this will work.

[rngeek]

It's awesome news! Great work everyone!!!!!

[crackjay]

I am a bit confused as to what was the success - possibly triggering the spam filter or Denial of Service protection in some exec's account? I don't see anything here that says anyone suddenly decided to build a Skype app. Nearly 700 million registered users vs 2,000 emails from owners of a device with less market share than Skype's parent company's desktop OS has in the tablet market. Unless someone at RIM demonstrates what is in it for Microsoft, it is just not going to happen....

I am not trolling or anything, but I fully agree. Microsoft will try to do everything to keep this platform irrelevant, and offering deep skype integration with Windows tablets/phones while shutting out Playbook OS will give more incentive to buy their platform and make it grow. Skype will not make the app.

RIM should look into how Skype is available for smart-tv's (LG, Samsung, Sony) and , if possible, leverage that in the Playbook OS. That will be the only way to get Skype onto the PB.

[theegoldenone]

I think that the bigger question is who doesn't want Skype on blackberrys.

Think about it. The app exists for specific carriers. Why? Why isn't it available for all blackberrys? We aren't just talking the playbook but all of Rims products. It is my firm belief that RIM was pressured by carriers to block the implementation of Skype on their platforms. There are way more Blackberry devices out there than say Webos and yet Skype comes preloaded on the touchpad!

I think it is more Skype isn't allowed to create one for the playbook rather than its not worth it.

If I'm not mistaken, playbook is the only blackberry product that has a front facing camera. That is probably the reason why it hasn't gotten to RIM yet.

[TripNFry]

I say we take on netflix next!!

[Marauder2]

I tweeted to Alec Saunders saying check out the Skype campaign on crackberry.com and he tweeted back not too long!

Alec Saunders - @asaunders
@zswickliffe @Ryan_Garnett I saw it. Thank you all for making the effort. Not sure how Skype will react, but thanks anyway!

What do you guys make of that response?

[asiayeah]

I tweeted to Alec Saunders saying check out the Skype campaign on crackberry.com and he tweeted back not too long!

Alec Saunders - @asaunders
@zswickliffe @Ryan_Garnett I saw it. Thank you all for making the effort. Not sure how Skype will react, but thanks anyway!

What do you guys make of that response?

It's a rather safe and correct reply from Alec Saunders.

I wish he actually know RIM and Skype are already in talk or negotiating a deal. Well, even if he knows, he can't tell the public. Otherwise, I am sure it's interesting to see how Skype would react.

[asiayeah]

I am not trolling or anything, but I fully agree. Microsoft will try to do everything to keep this platform irrelevant, and offering deep skype integration with Windows tablets/phones while shutting out Playbook OS will give more incentive to buy their platform and make it grow. Skype will not make the app.

RIM should look into how Skype is available for smart-tv's (LG, Samsung, Sony) and , if possible, leverage that in the Playbook OS. That will be the only way to get Skype onto the PB.

I would actually think Microsoft shouldn't worry about Playbook or BlackBerry too much for now. Their biggest competitor are really iOS and Android. Perhaps if RIM grows, it might weaken iOS and Android, which in return help Microsoft. It's a balance of power.

[Makilee]

Congratulations. Now we must stay all together and send an email to my ex-girlfriend so she can leave me alone.

[PanaSama]

Congratulations. Now we must stay all together and send an email to my ex-girlfriend so she can leave me alone.

Ok lets do this people!, but first post her e-mail and some sexy pictures.

[EchuOkan1]

Thank you everyone who joined in.

For me onlythe copy ofthe e-mail to the VP was deleted/not read.

[Ben1232]

Great work OP. Skype soon then

[saalnaz]

i have a question...

no doubt it would be fantastic to have skype on PB..

but why would their new owners (MS) allow it to be ported to PB?

PB is not an apple product...apple is now a gigantic company, the biggest in the world so even MS can not have skype removed from apple's app store. but PB and BB phones are particularly an easy target for them in the sense to kill off one competition:

- RIM is a smaller company and has been declining for a while and all tech companies know this. they know a few extra hard blows to them could make them dissapear in short years. what better way than not allowing them to have those hot apps.

-MS will be targeting the same market and they have started their own new OS game and new tablets sortly(albeit from other OMs). so why allow a tablet like PB which has a potential hang around? yes, many people will make their purchase decisions based on something as simple as having or not having a skype app on the device.
- in the bigger picture, MS would love to get rid of RIM all together probably. they will want to have the RIM corporate business and they are working hard on it. what better way than not to allow them to have access to certain apps etc...
-MS can't play the same nasty game with Apple because Apple is too big and if theypiss apple off apple will market their own video chat like nothing else forcing people to move and apple by now has a big enough market share to have people use their own custom built apps. heck, i predict in not too far from now, Apple will even start getting into the gaming business to compete with the play stations and x-boxs...so MS is not stupid to take skype away from apple as it is probably making good money in anycase from skype users apple product owners.
-the whole issue of allowing an independent software providers to be acquired by giant tech companies is disgusting and takes away the fair play and fair competition game away from eventually end users.

had skype not been acquired by MS, it would have been on PB a long time ago. whats next? Apple to acquire makers of angry birds.. this monopoly act should not be allowed in this day and age.

the only way to counter this is to have a new independent video chatting service become available on all platforms.

IMO, even a mill app will not change the idea of MS...those are greedy corporations..they will want to kill off competition.

[saalnaz]

i hope im wrong and i hope to see skype soon on the PB but who knows..

one way to make those bastards provide the app to PB with the petition directed to them, add a line that if no skype is released on PB, all the undersigned vow not to use or buy any MS product ever and make this a wide campaign. i think in a week or 2 you will see skype pop up on your app world!

[Draconianfire83]

I don't believe that MS would want to kill RIM. They have a lot to loose from doing so. RIM offers Smartphones and Tablets, both run Docs to Go. The new OS2 and BB10 will utilize active sync, and with enterprise RIM has licensing with MS on Office 365. Why would MS kill a company which could cause them to lose money? Not to mention, by licensing Skype, they'd make money by allowing PlayBook (and BB10 device) owners to benefit.

RIM is still a big player here... they are getting their Sh1t together and to count them out now would be more foolish.

[efd2051]

Skype would not be as waned if there was an alternative.

Heck if Yahoo or AIM video worked cross all platforms, that would be what everyone would use. there are a lot of proprietary "video" apps - The one that wins is the one that can work across the most devices, and provides both video & IM capability.

[BlueRocks]

Add my two emails to your tally. I sent them from my work account and meant to send the gmail account copies when I got home but never got round to it.

Hope it helps get that Skype app!

[jonno_atamaniuk]

Skype would not be as waned if there was an alternative.

Heck if Yahoo or AIM video worked cross all platforms, that would be what everyone would use. there are a lot of proprietary "video" apps - The one that wins is the one that can work across the most devices, and provides both video & IM capability.

This is exactly why Skype can't really afford to skip out on the Playbook, let alone on QNX. just think what would happen if the Connected Car concept from QNX came into being.

As well, for those of you thinking Skype would make no money on the free calls, Skype does place adds in their applications unless you are a subscribing customer. If you are subscribing or have money in your skype account, you have no adds visible. They probably actually make more money with their free subscribers than they do with those who have monthly subscriptions thanks to any add revenue.