I think some of you may have misinterpreted my words, so let me clarify this.
I am NOT a .mobi hater. *shock* in fact i do believe with proper usage, SOME of you guys will be sitting rich ducks within a few years.
I would like to point out a few points of what .MOBI is and isnt:
1. .MOBI IS a GOOD alternative to .com. Yes, theoretically like any other extention, a company may want to purchase the .mobi instead of .com (which is likely priced higher), especially a company related to .mobi.
2. .MOBI has a GREAT infastructure, particularly with the brains of Mr. Pinky Brand. Read a little about him, he's a genius. The market has been incredibly well financed, a 6 figure sale for a 4 month old TLD is usually unheard of.
3. The fact that .mobi requires so many keystrokes is NOT a factore. IMO in japan, people can type on their cellphones as fast as they type on their computer.
4. .MOBI MAY succeed. Its not a WILL but a MAY. Like everything, domains are an investment aka RISK. Its a matter of how much RISK you are willing to take.
Here is what .mobi ISNT:
1. .mobi is NOT the next .com. I am pretty sure most of you sensible .mobi investors know that. NOTHING can replace .com simply because this current generation grew up AROUND .com and thus it is ingrained in their head. Think about the "end user".
2. Pairing the successs (BIG SUCCESS) of the mobile internet with .mobi's future success is not valid. This is like comparing apples to oranges. There some considerable hurdles .mobi would need to clear to clearly tap in the mobile internet.
3. Pairing the success of .mobi with the number of registrations is not a valid point either. Look at .eu, enough said.
4. Claiming that phone companies will automatically default their extention to .mobi is quite ridiculous. My friends, phone companies cater to their CONSUMERS not to domainer but to CONSUMERS. Unfortunately, for the next few generations, .com will ALWAYS be the default extention simple because this generation is ACCUSTOMED to .com. Think about the number of complaints that would arise if the default extention was .mobi. All these parked sites, while people are looking for the .com version . Would cause major headache.
5. A major company "supporting" something is not a GODSEND cure all. Again, I would like for you kind folks to check out Greenz@p.com (scam site), claims to have support from major companies. How much SUPPORT are these companies TRULY putting into .mobi. Of course Mr. Pinky Brand will claim these companies back it majorly, he needs profits to please shareholders.
I am going to email every company that Mr. Pinky Brand claims to support .mobi and get a direct answer myself, and post it on this thread.
All in all, like with every new trend this is will happen. A few will get $$$$$$$, some of you guys will earn some nice change, most of guys will breaken even, and some will lose a lot of money. Its inenvitable, this is what happens in every trend and market. (See .eu).
I would like for you guys to go search for some .eu threads and get caught up in the history of the .eu hype. .
I didn't mean to offend anyone, but please everyone can we all have REASONABLE arguments. It makes me angry when someone shows no wit and pulls #%*( out of their ass.
I will refrain from posting anything, anywhere in this .mobi subforum, except for this thread.
Don't compare dotMobi with dotEu or other ccTLDs! It is not the same thing.
ccTLDs and other gTLDs are just the supplementary for dotCom in the PC Internet times, but the dotMobi is for the Mobile Internet times!
mTLD and its partners will make the dotMobi the king for mobiles. Every one can surf the dotMobi site without any problems, but they can't make it with any other gTLDs or ccTLDs in the near future (within 2 or 3 years).
very nice post...big of you to spill your guts and keep the peace too...I think we all are domainers to make some cash and everyone thinks their "stuff" is great stuff...good luck to us all and lets all advance the internet together...theres room for everyone.
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That is a vaild point. Thats what makes .mobi different, this DOES have a chance of making it big, although their is ALSO a risk that it will flounder. I am not willing to take that risk, but you guys are. Good luck.
In general, I think this is a decent post. Some responses to your comments:
If you are saying that the coming wave of internet access by small devices is no guarantee of .mobi's success then you are correct. But this very wave represents the growing user base for .mobi sites so it can't help but be very good for .mobi.
I agree but I don't recall anyone arguing this point, but I may have missed it.
I know there are many here who hope for this but no one is able to claim it will happen. I agree that this is unlikely.
It is hard for me to imagine that the .mobi backers would let their names be used in conjunction with something they actually don't support. The legal departments would be on it faster than a mobi fan does more registrations on pay day. Certainly it is no godsend, but I think the corporate endorsements are far more positive than negative.
Nice editorial pov damitssam. I just don't think the .eu extension is a good comparison point though. .EU was riddled with fraud, is area specific (Europe) which one was supposedly to be a resident of, was nowhere near as professionally released as .mobi has been, etc. etc. To use this extension as a spring board for comparison is way off. Perhaps you have or know of a different example for effective comparison.
Excellent objective POV about "Mobi". I've made a substantial commitment/investment to "mobi" and mobile technologies (patents, etc.), so obviously I'm a major evangelist of the mobi initiatives; however I have to agree there is risk, as in any venture, in mobi speculation and/or development.
Sam, you presented some very concrete and logical data points. Per "Eu", I have no experience with this extension, but I understand there were some significant problems. It seems the Dot Mobi people seem to have a more solid business strategy. But of course I'm biased - as a dual citizen of IRELAND (w/ Dublin the headquarters of Mobi)and USA.
If mobi succeeds on a grand scale, I'll treat my mobi mates to several rounds of Guinesses! "Dia Dhuit- God be with you!" Cheers!
The choice, for the decision makers, is making mobi the automatic default for cell phone searching and encouraging format conformity OR leaving the wireless world in a mish mash of long and confusing domain names.
Personally, I think they will choose to make mobi the automatic default.
I would complete with a risk that exists with the .mobi. And that risk is represented by domainers itself. Most good mobi names were bought in the landrush, and some companies may not want to buy high priced mobi names from the second market.
What could help mobi, is a very rich content, a lot of active sites with the extension.
Or with the keywords taken by domainers, there is a risk that they won't let their precious names to go, for end users.
It is the same like real estate, no matter how promissing and beautful is a land, when there are some houses built, it gets more high priced, than it would be plain land.
While that would be great for people who have invested in .mobi I don't think it is going to happen. I hope it does, but I doubt it.
I would be happy if they just gave .mobi precedence when people conduct a search from a mobile device, but I don't see any reason for them to do that either, other than to raise awareness of .mobi.
Imho it is way too early to say what is going to happen and since i'm not aware of anyone at NP sitting on the boards of any of these major corporations that "support" .mobi it is all speculation at this point.
I do think the rollout has been and is being handled very well, and things appear to be going as well or better than most people would have ever imagined. Yes speculation is driving some of the high priced sales, but at the same time when you see major corporations like statefarm, bmw, the nba and others adopting this extension early on there is a bit more than just speculation going on.
I do think the term "mobile web" will become a common buzzword in the next few years, not just in the domain world and techie circles. Hopefully when it does ".mobi" is the buzzword you hear right along with it
If it does, there will be some very wealthy NP members out there. Unfortunately I don't think I have good enough .mobis to make me one of them, unless I develope the heck out of my names now Speaking of which, I'm off to continue my search for the perfect mobile CMS.
It is not a stretch to think .mobi will be the default for the the mobile web. Many phone companies back .mobi and will make it the default if they see fit.
It is true that .com is the biggest tld because it is what we know and what we ( my generation ) grew up with. I dont believe it is farfetched to think that the generation growing up with .mobi can make it huge. Who knows, in 10 years .mobi could be as big as .com. The two tlds will be front runners in the domaining world as far as I am concerned!
I think defaulting could be possible, but only, and i mean only when there is a good .mobi infrastructure. What would be the point in releasing a mobile phone today with a default to .mobi when still 90% are just parked! It's the efforts of us domainers and endusers that should quicken the process and up to the .mobi registry to start spending some of them $$$$'s they have earned on traffic etc to ensure that .mobi is the keyword of the year!
The only difference between .mobi and .eu is one little thing.
That is the portable mobile device. Its like the discovery that voice could be heard by running a string from a echo device. Take that one step further and you have the telephone. The telephone brought the world together.
It also launched the biggest technology boom and patents for technology that are seen in every the communications industry, including the computer today.
To compare a technology to a country code is not the same. That alone is what is different about the .mobi
Success or no success .mobi is a new technology. In my opinion the technology is right on time, right for the market and has a huge scope of application. All aboard, or catch the next train, its up to you.
in fact i do believe with proper usage, SOME of you guys will be sitting rich ducks within a few years.
. Would cause major headache.
Good talk.
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