.mobi Rick Schwartz's thoughts on .mobi

[dag]

I thought the following from the Domain Name Journal's T.R.A.F.F.I.C. report was interesting:

Schwartz has always championed .com and has had strong reservations about other extensions so he would seem to be an unlikely buyer for this domain. He had this to say about it. “First of all before we are "Domainers" we are "Investors." At least that is how I would describe myself. I decided that buying a few premium .mobi's would possibly be a good investment. Time will tell. I sure am not going to pitch anyone on the extension. I know what you know. In time we will all find out if flowers.mobi was a steal or a bad investment. The downside is it goes down in value or becomes worthless. The upside is that a domain like this can be life changing. I don't see that many opportunities that cross my path that fit into the "life changing" category and I don't gamble much and don't buy lottery tickets. I am willing to take the risk and give it the time needed. Also take in to account that 4 people in the room bid over 6 figures for this domain. I knew all the bidders. They were all qualified. All I can say is stay tuned and we'll all learn together."

 

[Carlton]

... why waste $200,000.00 when a few dollars worth of code will do the same thing ?

Waste $200,000? Better wait awhile before drawing any final conclusions.

200k is a larger gamble than most will make, yes. But, speculators and investors by nature are forward thinking and will make a calculated decision based on a confluence of factors that are not within most people's field of view.

Mobi was a rare opportunity somewhat unlike other extension releases. I assume Rick Schwartz was compelled to take the gamble based on factors he found persuasive. Those that play stand to gain. The key, again and again, is to try and narrow your selection to a high quality name you can reasonably afford.

 

[cityforums.com]

Waste $200,000? Better wait awhile before drawing any final conclusions.

200k is a larger gamble than most will make, yes. But, speculators and investors by nature are forward thinking and will make a calculated decision based on a confluence of factors that are not within most people's field of view.

Mobi was a rare opportunity somewhat unlike other extension releases. I assume Rick Schwartz was compelled to take the gamble based on factors he found persuasive. Those that play stand to gain. The key, again and again, is to try and narrow your selection to a high quality name you can reasonably afford.

This is my personal opinion. If flowers.mobi is the

best the king can do with $200,000.00 maybe the king

has too much money ... but then again this opinion is

coming from a pauper and the move did buy good

publicity.

:hehe:

 

[nametrekker]

You will see the "big guys" start making "mobi" moves soon -- I saw where Time magazine (you can see on the mobi site under Sunrise - sorry, I don't have the link) has filed several applications for Trademarked names on premium list -- while trying to register names, I kept coming across major players - Microsoft, Samsung, France Telecom, Motorola, Nokia, which had already submitted applications

 

[cityforums.com]

You will see the "big guys" start making "mobi" moves soon -- I saw where Time magazine (you can see on the mobi site under Sunrise - sorry, I don't have the link) has filed several applications for Trademarked names on premium list -- while trying to register names, I kept coming across major players - Microsoft, Samsung, France Telecom, Motorola, Nokia, which had already submitted applications

The Big guys spent some small bucks to save some

bucks chasing TM infringement cases so it means nothing.

 

[think]

The Big guys spent some small bucks to save some

bucks chasing TM infringement cases so it means nothing.

Big guys using TM clout to access premium generics

Very relevant.

Many generic terms also have multiple TMs for different categories.

Look up a generic word like "THINK".

You can look up TMs here: http://www.uspto.gov/

(Please note this search will list both applicants and registrants. The difference being registrants were granted TM's and the applicants are still just applying. I didn't realise this the first time I used this tool and made some wrong conclusions about TMs. I ended up spending a great deal on lawyers for TM issues only to find out my assumptions were false because the TMs were not awarded. It's easy to make mistakes if you don't know what to look for. )

If you look for the term "think" you will see many different companies have TMs for it.

Hundreds of companies use "think" in their name and at least 5 or 6 have a TM for the the exact word.

As long as they use it for different categories all these companies have the right to use the word THINK to describe their business.

I would loved to have gotten Think.mobi but I have no TM

IBM took Think.mobi very early in TM sunrise (June 12th 2006).

This means companies like Think skateboards will have to settle for a longer tld and possibly lose some traffic due to IBM owning Think.mobi.

IBM must have been thinking ahead

So which ever companies apply for the generic word tld obviously has a greater chance of getting the domain

I think some companies remember the com years and want to try to get premium generics that they missed back then without the hassle of trying to buy it on the open market or have a TM holder in a different category purchase the domain first.

Just my opinion. I have no legal background and this info is for information purposes only.

Best of luck to all of you in your domaining.

C.T. Kirkpatrick
aka: think

 

[localpub]

I don't really think flowers.mobi is such good purchase as games.mobi, ringtones.mobi or anything else cellular-related could be. Of course, King knows better...

 

[GoPC]

This thread should be renamed....

Everyone's thoughts on Rick Schwartz's thoughts on .mobi.



For every second guessing buyer of a .mobi there is someone complaining that they didn't buy that dot common they considered all that time ago.

It's speculating.

Only time will tell.

GoPC

 

[SiGuy]

I got involved in early mobile WAP development back at the end of 1999! through the company I work for. The biggest problem back then was the amount of real estate you have to play with and the limitation of the standard phone keypad. This has been addressed to a certain amount these days with different phone form factors although is still an issue with the majority of hand sets.

I even speculated back then thinking that generic .coms prefixed with m could become valuable so bought around 10 or so. Recently sold one for $2000 and that was after owning it for nearly 6 years.

As already mentioned the key I think is that the .mobi extension gets used as default by the mobile phone operators around the world or .mobi has a massive marketing campaign to normal users so they are aware that they can type in the extension and get mobile content. Otherwise what stops someone offering: mobile.website.com for example for mobile users or even using the standard site which can detect a mobile user and either redirect or render from the standard URL.

I think as far as domain names go they have to be applicable to mobile phone users. I read a post about tusks.mobi not so long ago and that isn't really going to be worth much unless it is developed and turned into a brand.

If phone users are typing in domains using a standard phone keyboard then it makes sense to have short domain names and ones that can be easily typed in. E.g. a 3 letter domain that it is typed from the first character of different buttons and has good potential as a mobile service.

I've bought a 4 letter .mobi that can be keyed in with 4 button presses and is an English word and also some other mainstream generic variations.

I see Google, Microsoft, Vodafone and Yahoo have all got their .mobis registered and pointing at their mobile content which is good and hopefully more

I guess like all speculating the key is to only spend what you can afford to lose!

 

[mejcdj]

" old timers " are thinking inside and outside the box ...

we have been through or burnt by new.net, the first

idns attempt, the early .tv up and down ... remember

as long as .mobi is not exclusive it won't have the same

value ... flowers.com IS mobile if it wants to be ... why

waste $200,000.00 when a few dollars worth of code will

do the same thing ? Also why wait 2-10 years to get

a return on $200,000.00 when you could have bought

some other .mobis with the same amount and make an

immediate return like some folks on NP have done.

:imho:

WOW what a flashback lol
I remember new.net and dot info and dot.. well all the dots lol. I also remember buying ♪.com from register.com yearssss ago for some ungodly amount of money lol.

I have to say, I am an old timer and I can't resist a gamble on anything related to domain names. I have been in the black for a few years now and I have to say, nothing is as exciting to me when it comes to the internet and investing. Its always a gamble, no matter what you buy. When we can see names that make no sense at all sell for a few thousand more than you would ever consider, its in-your-face obvious that this market is impossible to understand some times.

You do what you want, buy what you want, leave what you want and be happy with it. Its fruitless for anyone to try to convince a person who is investing in something they believe in, not to bother.

I guess my point is... Do what you feel is comfortable to you, invest in what you want to invest in, but dont' try to over-analyze what other people are doing or thinking and don't try to talk them out of it. After all, you are obviously in the same market, you have made choices based on your own beliefs and ideas. Would you have let anyone talk you out of it? lol I am guessing the anser is a big fat 'NO'.

Regards,

Mejcdj