We Owe Skype an Apology

Zoom fatigue. We've all heard and experienced the term. I'm here to answer the question, is it really just Zoom fatigue?

Backstory: A few months ago I moved from Dallas, Texas to the lovely Pacific Northwest. While I had used Zoom in the pandemic, I was now using it to communicate daily with my work and with my family back home.

I hated it.

Already having social anxiety, Zoom added on another layer of frustration. It was laggy, hard to hear, and the thought of going full screen every time I laugh or make a noise just still sends chills down my spine.

I thought it was just me.

Zoom vs. Skype

That is, until one of my family members recommended we use Skype to video chat. It was crystal clear, right on time, and I never felt like I was talking over the other party. Quite frankly, I was shocked. I was shocked at just how much better the quality was.

How Skype was not prepared to handle and jump on the opportunity presented by the pandemic, I'll never understand. But, I think we all owe Skype an apology. A big one.

Now...I'll say that in terms of technical specifications, I can't tell you why Skype is better than Zoom. Maybe it's that Zoom defaults on 780p whereas Skype defaults at 1080p. Maybe it's Zoom's weird feature that makes you full screen if you're talking, introducing a psychological delay. I'm not sure why it's better, but I can't be the only one.

The Bottom Line

A huge reason for Zoom's success is because they cater to enterprise businesses. That, and they were able to meet the market's needs when they were most needed. Meetings can hold up to 1,000 participants, can breakout into sessions, and have other bonus features like polling and transcripts. While Microsoft has already decided to throw in the towel for Skype for Business and focus solely on Microsoft Teams, that doesn't mean that we all have to sit in Zoom peril when it comes to talking with our families.