- Impact
- 502
I feel mtld has been exaggerating the nature of the contributions of some of the backers. Initially, it all looks fine and dandy... But then, ask yourself -- when in history have that many multi-billion dollar corporations sided together on anything? I don't think mtld is as special in this regard, as they attempt to portray themselves to be. Now, I'm not saying .mobi isn't a great idea -- I like .mobi myself and wouldn't have invested in it otherwise. However, I highly doubt the likes of some of these behemoths are really interested in whether mtld succeeds or not. From a global standpoint, these multi-billion dollar corporations are only interested in ensuring that the mobile web becomes a success and that standards are in place to increase the likelihood and magnitude of their success.
Look at the market capitalization of some of the companies that mtld claims are investors...
I don't blame mtld for taking the approach that they have -- it makes sense from a purely economic point of view. Look how many domain names in every single extension are owned by domainers... Mtld can gurantee themselves a decent payday, merely by pushing these names at us, regardless of the perception .mobi forms years down the road in the general public's mind.
And saying mtld is not running things the way they are, solely for profit -- is a major misconception IMO. I'll liken that to thinking ICANN is actually a real non-profit... http://www.isp-planet.com/letters/icann_money.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/05/icann_registerfly_litigation/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/25/0611209
Of course -- if one digs deep enough, once can dig up dirt on just about anything or anyone... But the fact remains, that all of mtld's moves so far have been carefully planned in an attempt to maximize revenue (i.e. RFP, premium name allocation, "investor propaganda",...)
Is this wrong? No -- they're a for-profit corporation... This is to be expected. However, what is troubling, is that this company is being run by a bunch of mid-level marketers, not experts in the field of economics, not former CEO's of companies... Just marketers -- no offence intended, but do they really think they have the economic know-how to properly undertake what they're attempting; foraging into unchartered waters?
Releasing those premium names will be a challenge in it's own right. Mtld has already proven themselves unprepared by the joke the RFP has become. We can give them excuses all we want -- the RFP was supposed to be settled months ago. Applications originally ended when? Was it not mid-December? I think that another word now comes to mind... Disorganized.
How on Earth could it take this long to sort this out? The applications were extended... But they still ended on February 16. This was for 4 names. Yes! Four names -- not forty, not four hundred, and certainly not four thousand! So, do we really think they're up to the task of releasing these premium names? I, personally, do not think they're up to the task. I believe they're doing about as bad of a job as imaginable. Every time they delay the RFP, they're telling the "backers", and us alike, that they're unprepared for the task at hand.
We're talking about a whole new Internet here... Are they really cut out for the task? A list of things which really need to be addressed follows:
1. RFP (who, what, when, why)
Who is going to win the RFP's? Is preference being given to large corporations over individuals or smaller organizations with comparable ideas?
What can be done to ensure that the RFP's don't end up in the hands of domainers? Price is not an effective barrier as many domainers have more money than developers.
When are we going to finally have the RFP results? When are future RFP's going to take place?
Why has this RFP taken so much longer than initially anticipated? Why will future RFP's be different? Why does mtld deliberately avoid the Namepros forum, which collectively has invested far more money than readers of their blog, or other websites they respond on?
2. Premium Name Allocation (what, when, why)
What method will be used to allocate the premium names? I find it hard to believe you're capable of releasing thousands of names via RFP (if the current ongoing one is any indicator), or via auctions, if profit maximization is your goal, which it appears to be.
When can we honestly expect premium names to begin being released at a meaningful rate?
Why are you loaning out the city names (i.e. Helsinki) rather than giving them to the respective cities, something which I thought was the assumed intention, early on for reserving them.
3. Nature of the investments made in mtld (what, when, why, how)
What is the nature of the investments made by these backers? Have they all made equal contributions? Are the contributions strictly monetary in nature, or are these companies also interested in aiding your extension in a meaningful way, other than to hedge their commercial interests?
When can we expect these backers to start using the .mobi extension in a meaningful way, advertising the .mobi extension, or otherwise promoting it's use?
Why are these investors interested in mtld? Are they strictly interested in the commercial applications of the mobile web and how standardization may assist them in initiating their corporate agendas?
How do you plan on recruiting additional backers? How do you plan on encouraging your current backers to promote .mobi specifically, rather than the mobile web as a whole? How do you plan on getting the general public interested in .mobi if the corporate backers aren't willing to risk promoting .mobi in a meaningful way, and prefer to spend their advertising dollars on the mobile web as a whole, so as to ensure that their marketing dollars are not wasted on a fledgling extension?
4. Convincing the general public and corporations alike of the need for a mobile web in light of the iPhone and future, even more capable devices (what, when, why, how)
What advertising efforts will you be undertaking in the near future to ensure that the iPhone, and competitors to it that many companies are currently working on, will not convince the general public that there is no need for a mobile internet?
When will you begin your Consumer Awareness Campaign? Technology changes very rapidly. Our video game consoles today are more powerful than the instruments NASA used to send man to the moon. You have a distinct advantage in beginning as soon as possible -- beginning before the iPhone and it's competitors hit the market gives you a competitive edge. Don't let the public be wowed enough by these devices that they see no reason for a mobile web when presented with reasons for one.
Why have you waiting so long to begin your Consumer Awareness Campaign? Is it because a large majority of people still don't use cell phones for internet browsing? If you wait until bandwidth costs come down, it will be too late. By then, there will be no need for the mobile web. Ever heard of the technology singularity? That isn't science fiction! As we get more advanced and build more advanced devices, the advanced devices in turn allow us to build more advanced devices. It's the same premise behind Moore's Law. Why are there so many technological breakthroughs recently? What makes you think that technology to allow enjoyable browsing on cell phones isn't in the very near future? Don't waste time! This is your chance, don't blow it.
How will you position your product (the dotmobi extension) in light of innovations such as the iPhone? How do you plan on convincing companies that .mobi is a better means for standardization than redirects to m-prefixed subdomains?
This is by no means an exhaustive list, merely a list of some of the questions which are at the very top of my mind -- and should be at the top of yours!
We need to get these questions answered... Not so I, Jeff, or Labrocca can be satisfied... We need these questions answered so that everyone making an investment in .mobi, whether it be in domain names or developments, knows exactly what they're getting into.
Until then, I'm forced to call it as Garrett previously did -- a gamble with better odds than 40 million to 1.
Look at the market capitalization of some of the companies that mtld claims are investors...
I don't blame mtld for taking the approach that they have -- it makes sense from a purely economic point of view. Look how many domain names in every single extension are owned by domainers... Mtld can gurantee themselves a decent payday, merely by pushing these names at us, regardless of the perception .mobi forms years down the road in the general public's mind.
And saying mtld is not running things the way they are, solely for profit -- is a major misconception IMO. I'll liken that to thinking ICANN is actually a real non-profit... http://www.isp-planet.com/letters/icann_money.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/05/icann_registerfly_litigation/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/25/0611209
Of course -- if one digs deep enough, once can dig up dirt on just about anything or anyone... But the fact remains, that all of mtld's moves so far have been carefully planned in an attempt to maximize revenue (i.e. RFP, premium name allocation, "investor propaganda",...)
Is this wrong? No -- they're a for-profit corporation... This is to be expected. However, what is troubling, is that this company is being run by a bunch of mid-level marketers, not experts in the field of economics, not former CEO's of companies... Just marketers -- no offence intended, but do they really think they have the economic know-how to properly undertake what they're attempting; foraging into unchartered waters?
Releasing those premium names will be a challenge in it's own right. Mtld has already proven themselves unprepared by the joke the RFP has become. We can give them excuses all we want -- the RFP was supposed to be settled months ago. Applications originally ended when? Was it not mid-December? I think that another word now comes to mind... Disorganized.
How on Earth could it take this long to sort this out? The applications were extended... But they still ended on February 16. This was for 4 names. Yes! Four names -- not forty, not four hundred, and certainly not four thousand! So, do we really think they're up to the task of releasing these premium names? I, personally, do not think they're up to the task. I believe they're doing about as bad of a job as imaginable. Every time they delay the RFP, they're telling the "backers", and us alike, that they're unprepared for the task at hand.
We're talking about a whole new Internet here... Are they really cut out for the task? A list of things which really need to be addressed follows:
1. RFP (who, what, when, why)
Who is going to win the RFP's? Is preference being given to large corporations over individuals or smaller organizations with comparable ideas?
What can be done to ensure that the RFP's don't end up in the hands of domainers? Price is not an effective barrier as many domainers have more money than developers.
When are we going to finally have the RFP results? When are future RFP's going to take place?
Why has this RFP taken so much longer than initially anticipated? Why will future RFP's be different? Why does mtld deliberately avoid the Namepros forum, which collectively has invested far more money than readers of their blog, or other websites they respond on?
2. Premium Name Allocation (what, when, why)
What method will be used to allocate the premium names? I find it hard to believe you're capable of releasing thousands of names via RFP (if the current ongoing one is any indicator), or via auctions, if profit maximization is your goal, which it appears to be.
When can we honestly expect premium names to begin being released at a meaningful rate?
Why are you loaning out the city names (i.e. Helsinki) rather than giving them to the respective cities, something which I thought was the assumed intention, early on for reserving them.
3. Nature of the investments made in mtld (what, when, why, how)
What is the nature of the investments made by these backers? Have they all made equal contributions? Are the contributions strictly monetary in nature, or are these companies also interested in aiding your extension in a meaningful way, other than to hedge their commercial interests?
When can we expect these backers to start using the .mobi extension in a meaningful way, advertising the .mobi extension, or otherwise promoting it's use?
Why are these investors interested in mtld? Are they strictly interested in the commercial applications of the mobile web and how standardization may assist them in initiating their corporate agendas?
How do you plan on recruiting additional backers? How do you plan on encouraging your current backers to promote .mobi specifically, rather than the mobile web as a whole? How do you plan on getting the general public interested in .mobi if the corporate backers aren't willing to risk promoting .mobi in a meaningful way, and prefer to spend their advertising dollars on the mobile web as a whole, so as to ensure that their marketing dollars are not wasted on a fledgling extension?
4. Convincing the general public and corporations alike of the need for a mobile web in light of the iPhone and future, even more capable devices (what, when, why, how)
What advertising efforts will you be undertaking in the near future to ensure that the iPhone, and competitors to it that many companies are currently working on, will not convince the general public that there is no need for a mobile internet?
When will you begin your Consumer Awareness Campaign? Technology changes very rapidly. Our video game consoles today are more powerful than the instruments NASA used to send man to the moon. You have a distinct advantage in beginning as soon as possible -- beginning before the iPhone and it's competitors hit the market gives you a competitive edge. Don't let the public be wowed enough by these devices that they see no reason for a mobile web when presented with reasons for one.
Why have you waiting so long to begin your Consumer Awareness Campaign? Is it because a large majority of people still don't use cell phones for internet browsing? If you wait until bandwidth costs come down, it will be too late. By then, there will be no need for the mobile web. Ever heard of the technology singularity? That isn't science fiction! As we get more advanced and build more advanced devices, the advanced devices in turn allow us to build more advanced devices. It's the same premise behind Moore's Law. Why are there so many technological breakthroughs recently? What makes you think that technology to allow enjoyable browsing on cell phones isn't in the very near future? Don't waste time! This is your chance, don't blow it.
How will you position your product (the dotmobi extension) in light of innovations such as the iPhone? How do you plan on convincing companies that .mobi is a better means for standardization than redirects to m-prefixed subdomains?
This is by no means an exhaustive list, merely a list of some of the questions which are at the very top of my mind -- and should be at the top of yours!
We need to get these questions answered... Not so I, Jeff, or Labrocca can be satisfied... We need these questions answered so that everyone making an investment in .mobi, whether it be in domain names or developments, knows exactly what they're getting into.
Until then, I'm forced to call it as Garrett previously did -- a gamble with better odds than 40 million to 1.
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