Skype API Available for Beta

This story was commented in this blog several times. And so far nothing significant really happened. Why Skype keep trying to fill the gaps of its solution on leafs and not in the root of the problem?

Skype understand the importance of standing as a Service provider and no longer a simple Client provider. Something that cannot be accomplished without massive adoption in different devices, platforms and software.
Although we can reflect once again about the approach that has being used by them.

• Skype API is something that will work only for Skype Network. The flexibility of the service goes immediately to the ground. So if you implement it, make sure you know you won't be to re-use the code somewhere else.
• They are claiming some openness based on an old client side SDK API model. Which dismiss all potential of the currently heavily deployed solutions like SIP, which is everywhere, from Servers, Platforms, Hardware, Gateways etc... I'm not a SIP fan, although strategically would be wiser for them.
• Skype shares bandwidth without user concerns. Would you be up to risk embedding such black box into your own application or Product?
• Most IMPORTANT! Latest Skype IPhone client mention about not being free anymore from certain date. So if you are looking forward to implement Skype, bare in mind they can actually start charging for their services or clients at some point, which may turn your "FREE" application useless.

I'm glad they are moving forward towards Openness, but I still think they have a long way until having it done properly.

Apparently they may need to speed it up since Apple announced that Facetime on IPhone 4g, will use Open Standards including SIP, STUN and ICE. Which is a mature P2P technology heavily used and deployed and of course the same as we are using on XMPP Jingle Specifications.
Open Standard P2P already won this 'battle' which Skype still persists to fight.

GMail VoIP Coming Soon

Sooner than we though GMail will integrate VoIP services. This happens right after GIPS acquisition, and quite way too late after Gizmo5 acquisition.
Gizmo5 had for a long long time such widget but was using several layers of software from server side transcode, flash capture and an extra plugin.
I really hope they are thinking hard to have their widget based on embedded browser features. As it would be quite simple to embed a real VoIP(RTP/Codec) API in Google Chrome at least. That will really move the perspective on Broswer based VoIP to a new level!

The whole market will also appreciate if they make such API as open as possible so other could also create their browser based VoIP Clients.
We would even be pleasured if such API to be available also on Android Devices.

Google don't disappoint us.

Presenting The "Vital Ratio" Theory

On Internet we are surrounded by Applications, Services, Platforms, Mashups, Widgets and all kinds of useful and specially UN-USEFUL applications.

The most tricky question on Internet Business World is, "how much does your business costs?". Specialists and Marketing people tends to base their stats and values on "BUZZ" or general opinion, or even Polls (THE WORST TYPE EVER!)

I'm not a Marketing Guy, neither Specialists. As a generalist programmer I could come up with a much more mathematical oriented model. Which is not perfect, of course, but is the best and more reliable that I've seen in my limited ignorance.

The Problem:

How to measure the health of an Internet Business? Can you it be profitable?

Solution Approach:
If you think the Internet as an Human Body, or a Live Organism, you can give values to the Vital Organs for instance:

1. Heart
2. Lungs
3. Brain
4. Liver
5. Kidneys
   
6. Stomach
7. etc

Internet has also Vital Organs and Organic Systems, which are composed by necessities within a time period. So if we could define which systems("Organs") does Internet has and what are the current demand and values. Theoretically we could define a mathematical model to define the importance of Internet Systems.

Thesis Draft

Internet Systems Health can be measured by the mathematical model to presented in this blog later on.

Internet Systems can be divided in several categories, which together composes the Internet Ecosystem:

• Protocols
• Services
• Applications
• Network
• Users

If we ponder the values of each of these elements based on their interdependency and vitality for the overall system, we can use those as axiomatic constants for evaluating the target product proportionally. I will try to illustrate using a scale from 1 to 10.

• Protocols - 2
• Services - 6
• Applications - 4
• Network - 10
• Users Daily - 8

To be continued...