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Microsoft has announced it will shut down Skype, once the dominant video call service, in May this year.
At its peak, the service boasted more than 300 million users, but that number had fallen to more than 36 million users, according to the most recent figures shared by Microsoft in 2023.
The US tech giant, which bought Skype for $8.5bn in 2011, will shift some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship videoconferencing and team applications platform. Skype users will be able to use their existing accounts to log into Teams.
From Blackberries to floppy disks and MP3 players, Sky News looks at other pieces of software and hardware that were once ubiquitous but are now obsolete.
Dumb phones
Smartphones have replaced old-fashioned mobile phones, which were much more limited in features.
They could only make and receive calls and texts, though some could play games like Snake.
The devices have seen somewhat of a resurgence among people wanting to limit their mobile phone use.
A Blackberry phone. Pic: iStock
Blackberries
Blackberries revolutionised typing on mobile phones by including a full keyboard. They were widely used for business communication including email and messaging services.
But they were made obsolete by smartphones which transformed the physical keyboard onto the touchscreen.
A woman talking on a landline. Pic: iStock
Landlines
The first telephone call was made in 1876 and the device has gone through various iterations in the years since.
Once commonplace in homes and offices, the wired landline has seen its use decline amid the rise of mobile phones.
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