The one question I haven’t seen answered in the flurry of press about the Microsoft purchase of Skype is, why didn’t Microsoft do the deal back in 2005? Imagine what a different world we would be living in now…. (wobbly sci-fi effect)

President Gore was enjoying his second term in office. The huge wind turbines span slowly high above the Whitehouse lawn in a gentle fall breeze which sent light clouds scudding across the sun. Still, the solar panels on the roof of the historic building provided plenty of power for Gore’s wall of plasma screens that brought him the world news.

Today, the screens were dominated by “news alerts” and “breaking news” tickers about Microsoft’s last-minute trumping of eBay’s bid for Skype. Microsoft paid $3 billion for the company, leading to much frenzied action on the stock markets and chattering among the tech pundits.

“What is an old dinosaur like Microsoft doing buying hi-tech companies with a future! It’s just not right.” Screamed a pundit on Fox News. “Microsoft wasting billions on a project to nowhere?” was a headline on the Lifehacker, one of the bigger tech blogs.

Certainly there was a lot to digest. But after the initial fuss, everything went quiet as Microsoft went to work integrating Skype into its products. First up was the legendary Windows Mobile 5.5 release for a new generation of Wi-Fi equipped Palm Treos, HP iPAQs and the Dell Axim X52 (all with President Gore’s mandated solar power chargers built into the rear). All of a sudden, the dying Pocket PC market exploded into life as executives could buy expensive gadgets, but claim they would save money (and the planet) thanks to the great Skype icon.

Then came Windows XP Service Pack 3, placing Skype front-and-center on the desktops of millions of PCs. Millions of users were hooked on Skype, and they rushed out to upgrade to Windows Vista which, despite some problems, offered improved video chat and messaging. With Vista a success, and most businesses rushing to upgrade to take advantage of the cheap VoIP calls, Microsoft could concentrate on turning Windows 7 into a true next-generation operating system, instead of a mild upgrade.

Then, in 2007 came Apple with its iPhone. Sure it was sleek and almost buttonless, but with few users making use of Apple’s own iTalkie app and no Skype-compatible application in sight, the buying world outside a hardcore of Mac users, ignored it and waited for Windows Mobile 6.0 which released in early 2007.

Having not had to panic about fixing Windows Vista, and suffer the consequent diversion of effort and resources, the design and creative focus on Windows Mobile 6.0 not only impressed people but blew users and critics away. Sure, that Apple device looked a bit neater, but with similar all-touchscreen phones flooding the market, that could run the new Windows Mobile and Skype, it was soon forgotten.

And, when Xbox Kinect launched in 2010, suddenly everyone wanted an Xbox in their home to do Skype video chat in the living room, making Xbox the dominant console by far. So, now your grandparents could chat to the kids from the retirement home and then join in for some family-friendly Modern Warfare 2!

From a stock price of around $26 at the time of the Skype purchase, Microsoft’s stock rose steadily after each of these waves of success to peak at $250 when Windows Phone 7 squashed the rest of the mobile market, all because of the purchase of a little Windows app created by two Scandinavians and their Estonian programmers.

As for eBay, well its doing okay, better for not having brought a company it could do little with. And Apple? They’re still out there, somewhere. And Al Gore? Still the damn President! (reverse wobbly sci-fi effect).