.mobi Read this from NEWDOMAINER.mobi

[tophatter]

Today, 10:18 PM

I think this issue kind of swamped the thread it was in
(What will be the biggest flop in '08?)

So I thought I'd air it hear... you'll catch my drift I'm sure although there were some good posts by others (Hawkeye being one) on the original thread which I haven't copied across...

I think it really is time for the commies to drop the pretence that they 'know the answers' and actually bring their case up to date... the old reasons given for the failure of .mobi are just getting really tired now..

So here's some fresh 'food for thought'......

The important thing to note is that no one actually knows the answer when it comes to the mobile web.

I think most people accept that whichever side of the fence they are on... however, it does seem that those who believe that it is doomed always refer to existing, established websites (usually .coms) that have an established presence & they assume that users will either type .com into their PDA etc.. & get the auto detect version of the site, (this assumes that this is what the PDA user wants which removes the element of choice: a major consideration in itself)

The doom-mongers also assume that users are somehow more likely to be aware that they should key in m.site.com or mobile.site.com site.com/mobile than they would be to use site.mobi....
This is an oversight, especially as mobile devices are now coming onstream that require no extension to be used for .mobi sites.

The other assumption is that there will not be a 'cover-all' attitude by site owners who will wish to capture as much of their target audience as possible; by allowing access on all the available routes such as like Fox have done... any route you like; you get there.

Then there is a blind assumption that the mobile web is just 'desktop web' viewed on a small screen device... this to me is the most ridiculous assumption of them all.... large sites = big data volume = slow loading = visual overload = messy = complex = NON user friendly experience.

The mobile web will develop as a close relation of the desk-top web but it will not be the same.... some sites suit desk-tops & just desk tops... I wouldn't want to try & use an autocad programme on my phone for example.... or spreadsheets come to that!

For social uses, video, audio, contacts, GPS, maps, locations, reviews, food, quick reference, impulse buys, last minute info, gifts, traffic, games, etc. etc. etc. there will be a new breed of web site....

The only extension that will ever guarentee a suitable site for a small screen device is .mobi.... all the other extensions will be hit & miss; not every site will have auto-detect, not every site will render well - even with the appropriate software; especially older sites, complex sites etc..

Using m.site.com just gets you to a site that may or may not be suitable for mobile (by that I mean that if you choose 100 random .com addresses & stick an m. in front of it - how many sites resolve as mobile sites & how many servers return no results? - In other words; in order to use m.site.com etc. you need to be aware that the site has a mobile site available, whereas any address that has a.mobi is a site that you can be assured of getting to render on your small screen.

Add to that the fact that this will become more apparent to end users after a period of time; more & more people will start to key in site.mobi in the expectation of seeing a mobile site... when that happens, site owners will not want to lose this traffic & they will need to register / buy the .mobi domain in order to do so, even if they redirect to an m.site.com address.

Then it gets serious; .mobi's become as much a part of the mobile web as .coms are on the desk top.... m.site.com & mobile.site.com will become to the mobile web what the .net / .org / .info is to the desktop web today... the same of country codes; there is a realistic chance that country code mobiles will be released in the next 5 years; so site owners of .co.uk may end up with .uk.mobi or .mobi.uk or .m.uk who knows, but what is for sure is that the original extension (.mobi) will be the .com of the mobile web.... if you have the .com, the logical thing will be to have the .mobi to go with it or the competition will beat you to it.... defensive it may be but its nothing we haven't seen time & time again with every other extension...

In my (humble) opinion I think that the need to have the .mobi will be secondary to your main domain & be ahead of the list of other domains you will need to serve your client base & to protect your market... the only one that comes close is the country code for where you happen to be.

Lets just read this sentence a few times until it sinks in:

"4 devices with small screen web access sold to every large screen web access device sold"

..... that figure is growing; it'll be 5 to 1 before long.....
How long does it take for people to drop their preconceptions and look at the figures?

Of course, all the techies are protective of the internet just the way it was in 2006.... they don't like change!
Forward thinking people accept change, learn the new technologies & embrace the next big thing...

It's not lost on me that most techies that I know (& respect for their knowledge & skills) are still wearing clothes & sporting hair-styles that went out in the late 1980's.... maybe thats a clue as to how long it takes them to get 'with it'

And finally; the other mistake the doomsayers keep making is that they forget that sites are built every day, businesses are set up every day, domains are developed every day.... in time, there will be many sites that don't have a desk-top presence; they will be site.mobi & thats it... no need for anything else, it's taken a long time to populate the internet (& 75% of that is utter crap).
The mobile internet will be populated in half the time (my guess) just remember that nothing stands still, nothing stays the same for long.... the 'mass' internet itself is barely a generation old... it's just a toddler itself... & now it has a baby brother!

Nice Flares by the way Jeff! but the pony tail has to go...

"I am so glad that I followed my own judgement over the past 18 months"

I really am pleased that I am able to write the above (in bold), the reasons why .mobi won't work are growing weaker & weaker all the time.... I am sooo glad that I followed my own judgement.

If I had a tractor factory; I'd have a simple mobile site.... some nice pictures of my latest models, a few spec details... an email address, a 'click to phone' link & a link to my main web-site...

Your argument is so poor & niaive to argue that companies won't bother with mobile web... that comment will be up there with that record label guys comments some time back when he told why he turned down the opportunity to sign the beatles


(Originally Posted by Ergo)
The main problem to mobi is that majooooooority of companies even don't have, never intended and do not plan to have mobile versions of sites. So potential end users for mobi domains is about 1000-10000 times less than for .coms and I strongly believe that even 2-10 times less than for .biz domains that are considered as worst. And among those very small number of potential end users only few will decide to "BUY NOW AT END-USER PRICE OF $XXXX" instead of free and still not bad free decision to place their sites at m.site.com. E.g. I think that imaginary GLM.biz has more chances to find end-user than GLM.mobi because if in 10 years there will be 10 companies with GLM acronym they will try to buy GLM.com, GLM.net, GLM.org, GLM.info, G-L-M.com, G-LM.com, GL-M.com GLMonline.com etc... But what's the reason for them to have GLM.mobi if their business are Tractors, Boats, Agriculture, Dung or whatever else.

mobi is good only when name is connected with mobile world
(End Quote)

Further to your comments Ergo; if I were a farmer - how much time would I spend in the office & how much time out & about? What would be the best way to market to a farmer? .... via his phone? Nah! That would be silly wouldn't it??

I mean, a farmer wouldn't find it useful to visit a suppliers mobile site to order fertiliser at short notice or order more cattle feed, fuel... or even to check the price of beef at the markets so he can decide whether to book the abbatoir next week or wait another week... in fact the list of companies that you use to illustrate why it's no good are perfect to argue to the contrary... to the last one!

You know, the more I think about it, the less uses I can think of for the mobile web



I wouldn't want anyone to rush off & pile into .mobi without due diligence but I will say one thing.... I 1st had a mobile phone in 1990

It was a brick!

It was so expensive I couldn't bear to use it...

Then there was this text / SMS business... whatever the f*** that was!

Do you know, I was a techphobe... I'm still not a gadget man but I spend over 1000 minutes a month on my mobile phone, I send around 400 texts every month, sometimes a lot more... my point being that in 1990 I wouldn't have seen myself making use of these facilities, I was one of those people that got frustrated with the new phones as they came out... all fiddly & too many functions; I just wanted to talk God dammit!!!

I was also a tree surgeon back then... I climbed trees all day & waved a chainsaw around like it was grafted onto my wrist...

Now I use all the phone features I once hated and more,
I can qwerty type & alpha-numeric text faster than ever, I'm an entrepeneur rather than a contractor nowadays so I keep my hands clean (most of the time) which would surprise you if you knew me in my 20's

I also have two kids whom I love more than I could possibly have imagined
(I genuinely never wanted kids - couldn't stand the idea.... until I had them - sound familiar??)...

So, resistance is futile... the mobile web will happen; its far too useful for it not to... many will refuse to participate, many web site owners will buck the trend until they realise that they are losing out to the competition.

Wake up guys, you can choose to be a leader or a follower... but make no mistake you will get on this particular train sooner or later.

(all IMHO of course...)

Ok, this isn't for a debate if you can't think of any meaningful argument... we can just call it educational if you like :hehe:

QuickQuote · #1
newdomainer.mobi
NamePros Member


Trader Rating: (4)
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 147
NP$: 1700.00 (Donate)

 

[ODST.com]

long read but nice read

 

[skeitel]

>> if I were a farmer - how much time would I spend in the office & how much time out & about? What would be the best way to market to a farmer? .... via his phone? Nah! That would be silly wouldn't it??

"If I were a farmer"...and a sales rep, and a teenager, and a stockbroker on the go, and and a housewife at the mall, and a stewardess, and...ad infinitum

Great post.

 

[DomainTalker]

tophatter....thanks for posting this - I missed it earlier


newdomainer....Damn good thinking, mate...

.