The document discusses the rise of real-time video communication technologies over time, from message boards and chat in the 1980s and 1990s to today's rise of video calling and conferencing using platforms like Skype. It notes that in 2009, Skype saw 124 million connected users, 113 billion minutes of calling, and that 40% of Skype calls included video. The document also discusses challenges of building interoperable real-time video across different devices, standards, and operating systems and how Skype is addressing this through cross-platform APIs and SDKs.