How to .Tel the Difference

[theuniverse]

http://www.ricklatona.com/2008/11/04/how-to-tel-the-difference/

Your Opinions?

 

[firefly]

To be fair and honest...I read a little bit here and there but I wouldn't say I'm a .tel expert, but then again, who here can?

Seriously though...what are your expectations of joe public ever knowing it exsists and of it's uses. When was the last time a extension was branded and marketed to the masses in a way that it become as natural to use as say...dot com??

Lets be honest, when talking about mobile applications like for phones, has any (not mentioning any extension) been successful? I just don't see the point of it. You may think it's a great idea...hell, major corporations may think it's a great idea, but at the end of the day, it's useless unless someone sears it into the global psyhci of internet users.

That's the main problem with any extension, wether it's brandable or not. Dominers will pay for it and some will make money off it. Personally, I see many taking a bath on it...but hey!..that's just my opinion.

 

[Jasonn]

I don't see how they can justify $375 reg. What are they thinking? For something that is supposed to be just a contact page? Sounds like just another money grab.

Also, if you have a mobile phone and want to order a pizza, to download the website to get their number from your mobile takes time to download, with dot tel, its very fast to load. This is just one feature among many . It's a bloody brilliant idea and about time IMO.

Thats pretty funny. People say .mobi is irrelevent because phones have no problem loading full websites fast and legibly.

 

[firefly]

Thats pretty funny. People say .mobi is irrelevent because phones have no problem loading full websites fast and legibly.

Thought that myself. It seems in place to fleece the next lot of eager domainers.IMHO

 

[phase111]

I never woulda thought twitter would become as big as it has started to become either, lol...."I just went to the toilet".... [twitter update] "oops. forgot to wash my hands, better go back and do that now", lol...yes the internet is becoming a bit of a circus, just as well we've got dot tell to keep track of all our points of contact.

 

[firefly]

Glad you need to have a dot tel (or .tell as you put it) to keep track of your points of contact.

Personally I don't.

BTW...a bit of a stretch to compare something like twitter to an extension IMHO.

 

[phase111]

Nop, not trying to compare, only to emphasize the fact that something that many of us dont think we need, can actually become very very popular, sometimes for no obvious reason. In the case of dot tel (dot tell), here we actually have something that many people need ( IMOP). But I would suggest to anyone, before bashing on about how useless a TLD it will be, why not actually go and research what your bashing first, would be an idea, just so you actually are justified in making your opinion based on analysis rather than speculation or guesswork, IMOP. In the end, because it's so different to any TLD before it, who's to say it will work, or it won't, this depends on many factors, only time will tell, but from my investigations, it has huge potential to both business and individuals alike.

 

[firefly]

Dude..if you want to buy the .tel and rock on the "webless web", that's your decision.

People being synical about new extensions is healthy and should be normal. Being overly zealous at the "potential" of any new extension is a path that has been walked down too frequently in recent times. I just voiced my opinion and they still stand. I'm glad you are of a different mind. This place would be boring if we all agreed.

BTW..Like I said, even after some more research, my opinion still stands.

If you do invest, I sincerly do hope it works out for you the way you expect.

 

[phase111]

BTW..Like I said, even after some more research, my opinion still stands.

Awesome mate, all good. Just that Ive noticed there have been a few folks that have been cynical about different topics, but it's been obvious they havent really knowing what it's about, just looks a bit lame when that's the case. I agree though, nothing like a healthy debate and like I said, who really knows what the outcome will be really...maybee it will flop, but my argument is that it will have more potential not to. Looking at the backers of it too, it doesnt seem like they will run out of money, which would make me think, if you have invested over 30 mil already, why not spend a bit more to really help get it off the ground. Maybe that's a naive way to look at it but these investors wouldnt have gotten behind it if they didnt truly believe in it to begin with. So my thought is, if it didnt take off, at least they would have done all they could have to promote it.

:bingo:

 

[Marck]

That reg fee is a joke. .tel is no longer interesting.

 

[Ryanie]

Is .tel worth it?

Is all the hype surrounding .tel worth it? Will having a premium domain name on a .tel give any value in the long run?

What do the biggies here think about this TLD?Does it have a future? OR is it just a giant step backwards, in the history of the internet?

Worth a discussion,aint it?

 

[mwzd]

I don't think so. It will be a repeat of .mobi imo.

Take that to mean what you will.

Though I do know its not a ccTLD, thread moved.

 

[GF]

I don't think so. It will be a repeat of .mobi imo.

In other words, a miserable failure of an extension.

Who uses a telephone in today's modern society? Alexander Graham Bell?

We use mobile phones/cell phones/VOIP/digital phone.

When I think of "telephone" I think of those old clunky phones my Grandma had at her house in Honduras that was rotary dial.

http://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/8/81/Rotary_phone_406.jpg/250px-Rotary_phone_406.jpg

.tel = Dead on Arrival

 

[gazzip]

I don't think so. It will be a repeat of .mobi imo.

Take that to mean what you will.

:bingo: my thoughts exactly...I did'nt buy any .mobi and I sure ain't buying .tel



.

 

[Ryanie]

I'm fairly new to all this, but i must say, as an end user, apart from the hype they are building around it, when you look whats inside,it hardly lives up to expectations.. I mean, the idea of not giving a chance to the end user to change the look and feel of their virtual real estate (like a conventional TLD does), takes away any and all value associated with it.It really is gonna bomb if they dont come up with some drastic changes to what they are offering.I mean,look at that spartan page that will load up when you enter some .tel domain in the browser... Even parked pages look better than that.And to think of it, billions of .tel pages will all have the same boring look across them.
In a world where everyone tries to showoff his/her individuality,what seperates him/her from the other, having a stupid white page holding their information,and watching millions others having the same page like theirs, is the stupidest idea of 2008..or should i say,the decade of net development.
All the hype surrounding storing information directly in the DNS and all..understood.But if they all look the same, no one is gonna care about getting one,once the initial rush is over. So much of development has taken place in the last two decades,and they are now coming up with a stupid electronic yellow pages directory, and making it look like its THE NEXT BIG THING?? I hardly think so..
They couldnt even provide a way to customize the look and feel of the page..or atleast make it possible to develop a website around the domain?Is it that hard when we are seeing gazillions of new tlds coming up everyday and all provide the basic functionality of having a website?? Who would want a stupid white page to hold their contacts and address info and basically redirect the searcher to their .com websites?Why wouldnt one go to the .com directly? Arent we going backwards here?
This is what i feel from an end user's point of view.

Now from a domainer's point of view, the value of a domain depends on the demand for it.So if the end user is not going to be interested in having a '.tel', why would a domainer take the pains to sift thru billions of pages,time and wasting lot of cash on getting that 'premium' .tel domain,when there will be no demand for it?

Agreed,now someone would want to be 'THE' only one 'Bill' or 'bob' or whatever on the planet with a .tel domain,but apart from that,i dont see any demand for generic dictionary words as is the case with other tlds.

What i feel is,they should atleast add the functionality to build a customized webpage around the domain (its not that hard,is it? )..only then is there going to be any demand for that 'elusive' .tel from end users !! And probably, only then will it be of any value to domainers. else, its gonna bomb badly.

stupidest idea according to me.. what do you guys think?

Btw, i dont know much about the technicality behind this TLD,but is there any chance that they may be adding a functionality to develop a website around the domain as an option,if one wants to? Even that could add some value to the domains then.

*I'm sorry for the long post..*

 

[MicroGuy]

What a brilliant plan. Take an entire TLD and strip out the ability to host websites.

This crazy idea is already causing confusion. I've seen experienced domainers on Namepros advising people to register a .TEL since they would be able to find a great name available for their website.

 

[phase111]

The idea behind .tel is to provide a quick and convenient way to find contact information. If it could turn into a webpage, the it would be just like any other .com or .mobi domain. They will not be able to be customisable because the whole point is to provide a simple point of contact for any company or person, that can be updated..all a .tel does is point to a pretty customised website. Because the internet is so messy in general, I can see a need for this type of tld. Businesses are already showing strong interest in it apparently, most domainers aren't because they want to turn their domains into profits from development and parking.
This tld has been in development for around 7 years and has only just been approved by icaan's once they were happy, so it's been a long time coming but not too soon imop. The advantage of it's simple page is also that it's lightning fast to download, unlike a website. Telnic will be introducing their .tel pages directory next year, which will be one step closer to their plan for a global white and yellow pages.
I think business may embrace it before Joe public and I think it has great potential at this stage.

 

[MicroGuy]

The idea behind .tel is to provide a quick and convenient way to find contact information. If it could turn into a webpage, the it would be just like any other .com or .mobi domain. They will not be able to be customisable because the whole point is to provide a simple point of contact for any company or person, that can be updated..all a .tel does is point to a pretty customised website. Because the internet is so messy in general, I can see a need for this type of tld. Businesses are already showing strong interest in it apparently, most domainers aren't because they want to turn their domains into profits from development and parking.
This tld has been in development for around 7 years and has only just been approved by icaan's once they were happy, so it's been a long time coming but not too soon imop. The advantage of it's simple page is also that it's lightning fast to download, unlike a website. Telnic will be introducing their .tel pages directory next year, which will be one step closer to their plan for a global white and yellow pages.
I think business may embrace it before Joe public and I think it has great potential at this stage.

Pretty much the same DNS "technology" has been around since the inception of domains in the form of (TXT) records. .TELs are stripped down domains, removed of their ability to host websites (A) or email (MX).

 

[phase111]

Pretty much the same DNS "technology" has been around since the inception of domains in the form of (TXT) records. .TELs are stripped down domains, removed of their ability to host websites (A) or email (MX).

Yes, the idea of .tel is to provide a global directory service, not to become a traditional website.

 

[bergencc]

i talked to many people its just a waste of money

 

[Ryanie]

The idea behind .tel is to provide a quick and convenient way to find contact information. If it could turn into a webpage, the it would be just like any other .com or .mobi domain. They will not be able to be customisable because the whole point is to provide a simple point of contact for any company or person, that can be updated..all a .tel does is point to a pretty customised website. Because the internet is so messy in general, I can see a need for this type of tld. Businesses are already showing strong interest in it apparently, most domainers aren't because they want to turn their domains into profits from development and parking.
This tld has been in development for around 7 years and has only just been approved by icaan's once they were happy, so it's been a long time coming but not too soon imop. The advantage of it's simple page is also that it's lightning fast to download, unlike a website. Telnic will be introducing their .tel pages directory next year, which will be one step closer to their plan for a global white and yellow pages.
I think business may embrace it before Joe public and I think it has great potential at this stage.

But do you think that a virtual yellow page directory with a spartan 90s look,common across billions of .tel 'sites' (i wonder if its even worth to call it a site),worth a $20 reg fee,just so that it'll point to the main website of the businesses?Why wouldnt someone google instead, and get there directly?
Secondly, was it so hard to give the end user the functionality to customize the look of his 'little web directory'? It could have been added as an option.If someone wanted to,he could customize the look,or else keep the default look. 7 years to come to light, and was it so hard to add this simple functionality?

*in response to the bold text in quote*
I can tell you,as an end user, this simple functionality to customize the look of one's .tel could have added lot more value to the whole thing.
And the reason that since the net is already so messy, having a new address to point to your main business site doesnt really make sense.Sooner or later the .tels of millions of companies will flood the net, and it'll get messy to sift through .tels as well..So,we are back to square one! Lol!

Dont know about the businesses,but its going to be a big flop with individuals.In an age when spamming is such a serious issue, why would an average joe add his info for millions to see and risk a tsunami of spams coming his way?spam mails,spam calls,identity stealers..the risks are endless.


Telnic is actively trying to market it for individuals as well,luring them into believing that having a .tel is a 'cool' thing.. with links to their facebooks and mail addresses,phone numbers etc. In an age when there is orkut and facebook,why would a friend try to find you out this way? why wouldnt he search you directly on orkut or facebook?

To me, the .tel is like a big unprotected WHOIS directory. People pay money to protect WHOIS info, not to let others see it..