Skype for iPhone: Beyond the Hype, It's Still Just Skype

The new Skype iPhone app is more interesting as a political statement than as an application. Not that there is anything wrong with the app, except, of course for the large number of people who can't get it running properly. For them I have good news: You aren't missing much.

About half the early users, based on App Store feedback, love Skype for iPhone. The other half can't get it to run properly. I am one of the lucky ones, as Skype works fine on my iPhone.

However, once I started playing with it I realized that for all the hype, it's still just Skype. Not that it's a problem, it's just that Skype does what most other instant messaging clients can do these days--make voice calls.

Skype is much more impressive as a tool for desktop video conferencing than as a way to make phone calls on an iPhone connected to a Wi-Fi network, which is all AT&T and Apple will allow it to do, at least for now.

On Monday, I wrote that Skype over wireless data would be the end of cellular as we know it. That post generated a great deal of e-mail, including some additional information provided by readers. Here are a few highlights:

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