michaeldotcom said:
However, domaining is all about taking risks. Maybe you will be proved right and we will be proved wrong. Who knows ?
Yes, I agree - calculated risks, but risks, nonetheless....And, domaining is no different to any other business, in that respect.
I happen to think that .mobi has a good chance of finding a substantial place in the emerging mobile web - and, a better-than-evens chance of finding a profitable niche within it. Many domainers - even the majority - disagree. That's fine by me. Each to their own judgement.
Having said that, I do believe the whole mobile space has a very long way to go yet. The current tools for the development & use of mobile sites etc are still in their infancy. And, aside from Japan & South Korea, the mobile space is, itself, in its infancy in most markets....Even
how consumers & business product & service providers will actually interact has yet to become clear....And, the business models for mobile businesses, that will provide a return on investment in the mobile space, have not yet been properly established....It doesn't surprise me, therefore, that many don't feel positive about .mobi today.
None of this deters me. It just says that the new business models haven't been worked out yet. All of this will be vastly improved, within a few short years. As, indeed, will the mainstream understanding, and use, of mobile technology....But, it does say to me, that my real return on investment is likely to be some years away. I build that into my investment strategy.
(Price movements for domains, up or down, over a 6-month period, in this context, are irrelevant. In this new mobile space, there's a tectonic shift going on - I think in terms of years).
Many of us will recall being online in the 1990's - with the dreaded dial-up modems - taking forever to download the smallest file from the .com sites we visited - and, then, after waiting forever, the .com sites we went to were usually crude, simplistic, and often useless....And, online business revenue was almost non-existent, because online financial security for credit cards hadn't been perfected....Nor had the advertising models that came later...It was as the medium became better understood - and the tools to use it were perfected - that the internet, in general, and .com, in particular, took off, and provided the opportunities we have seen over the years...
Yes, .mobi is a risk....So are many other extensions. But, as the mobile web takes hold - and millions/billions of new people come online in the future - many of them directly onto mobile devices straight away - I'm betting that the only global Top Level Domain specifically created for mobile use will find a decent place in that scenario. That's my bet, in this regard....It will take only a relatively small percentage of these millions/billions to adopt .mobi, for .mobi to be very successful....
I have invested in top .mobi names, and I am, & will, develop them. I hope to build significant businesses with each of them. And, perhaps, I'll sell each of those domains/businesses to the then bigger end-user players in the mobile space of the future. Hopefully, for very serious money.
If I'm wrong - and.mobi doesn't find a decent place in this mobile future - then, I'll have done the dough....If it does - then, perhaps I'll make extraordinary profits....It was ever thus - risk brings the chance of its own reward.
I can only say to you - back your own judgment, in each of your investments....And, lets respect each other for the different bets we each make in the domain space.
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