.mobi State of .mobi 2006 like .com in 1996?

[DomainBuyerBroker]

I would like to propose that the state of .mobi in 2006 is similar to the state of .com in 1996

If you were buying domains in 1996 you were probably saying "C'mon, when is this Internet thing going to take off?"

Now we're buying .mobi domains in 2006 and saying "C'mon, when is this MOBILE internet thing going to take off"?

Sure, ebay, yahoo and amazon started in the Fall of 1995 but I didn't discover the internet until Fall of 1996 then I waited until January of 1997 to start selling on ebay. Then it took a couple more years for the general population to rush online.

So, give .mobi a chance to wake up. The landrush was less than TWO MONTHS ago.

If you knew in 1996 what .com would be like ten years later, you would have played the game a lot differently. I think we have that same opportunity with .mobi today.

With a minimum two year registration you can't even drop out of the game until September 26, 2008 at the earliest.

Let 2007 be to .mobi what 1997 was to .com.

Let 2008 be to .mobi what 1998 was to .com and so on.

 

[mjnels]

not sure if the analogy is completely accurate but your "moral of the story" is definitely correct.. 2 months is too soon for anything...


investors are usually always the first people to know about somthing...

if you look back at some of the products/new inventions of today and when we, the general public finally realized they existed, you could probably go back in time and see when the investors first knew about it... likely a lot sooner than the gen. public were first aware..

 

[DomainBuyerBroker]

Good point.

Radio, television and even automobiles took years, even decades to get to mass market.

 

[jeremyp]

Hey Rob!

I was actively buying domain names in 1996. There was already tons of traffic to be harvested.

I think that you are right but off by 3 years on the date!

MOBI 2007 is like COM 1993. As we entered 1994 and the browsers improved, web surfing took off.

When I first trolled the domain directory, the best names were ALREADY taken. 1992-1993 best names purchased.

Moral of the story. It's 1993 and we're 1-3 years from critical mass. Then, it explodes and it's a long, long road.

Jeremy Padawer

I would like to propose that the state of .mobi in 2006 is similar to the state of .com in 1996

If you were buying domains in 1996 you were probably saying "C'mon, when is this Internet thing going to take off?"

Now we're buying .mobi domains in 2006 and saying "C'mon, when is this MOBILE internet thing going to take off"?

Sure, ebay, yahoo and amazon started in the Fall of 1995 but I didn't discover the internet until Fall of 1996 then I waited until January of 1997 to start selling on ebay. Then it took a couple more years for the general population to rush online.

So, give .mobi a chance to wake up. The landrush was less than TWO MONTHS ago.

If you knew in 1996 what .com would be like ten years later, you would have played the game a lot differently. I think we have that same opportunity with .mobi today.

With a minimum two year registration you can't even drop out of the game until September 26, 2008 at the earliest.

Let 2007 be to .mobi what 1997 was to .com.

Let 2008 be to .mobi what 1998 was to .com and so on.

 

[domaindigger]

Now we're buying .mobi domains in 2006 and saying "C'mon, when is this MOBILE internet thing going to take off"?

I don't think that's what we're thinking. I think it's more like "will .mobi become the default extension for the mobile internet?" If anyone here is doubting that the mobile internet is going to take off, please look at yourself in the mirror, slap yourself, and rinse and repeat until you slap all the doubt away. :D

 

[seeker]

there is no way you can compare .com in 96 and .mobi in 06.
you can have a mobile optimized site in a well established .com site.
and .com will always be about 2 decades older than .mobi

Of course mobile phones accessing the internet will be a huge thing, but that does not mean .mobi will

 

[Jeff]

Of course mobile phones accessing the internet will be a huge thing, but that does not mean .mobi will ...

Agreed. :imho:

 

[ekal]

The best time to say "yes" or "no" on this questions is 2016.

In the meantime we have speculation. Remember that a lot of people who got rich from .coms spent many early years losing money on $70-$100 registrations until their investments matured.

The only way to stay revenue neutral in the .mobi market over the next 2/3 years will be to sell some of your portfolio.

 

[jeremyp]

bingo

The best time to say "yes" or "no" on this questions is 2016.

In the meantime we have speculation. Remember that a lot of people who got rich from .coms spent many early years losing money on $70-$100 registrations until their investments matured.

The only way to stay revenue neutral in the .mobi market over the next 2/3 years will be to sell some of your portfolio.

 

[runsome]

Lets not forget some of companies the backing the .mobi extension.

There is not a fly by night operation.

10-15 years ago if you had a cell phone you were a weirdo, today if you dont have one your the odd ball.

Dont underestimate .mobi there is a lot of potential there.

The only problem for domain investers here is that dotMobi has 5700 of the best names already. Sure some slipped through their premium list, but they really got the pot of gold.

 

[ekal]

The only problem for domain investers here is that dotMobi has 5700 of the best names already. Sure some slipped through their premium list, but they really got the pot of gold.

The only guaranteed winner is the casino....

 

[MillersCrossing]

there is no way you can compare .com in 96 and .mobi in 06.
you can have a mobile optimized site in a well established .com site.
and .com will always be about 2 decades older than .mobi

Of course mobile phones accessing the internet will be a huge thing, but that does not mean .mobi will

That last point is the key to the .MOBI success story. One way to guarantee that success would be for cell phone operators and .mobi sponsors to agree to .mobi being a default for websites...so that it will actually become the shortest extention, because you will not have to tap anything in it at all, whilst if you wanted to go to a .com/net you would need to tap in flowers.com - instead of the default flowers - which would take you straight to the .mobi site.....

Whether this would violate fair business practices and any applicable laws is another thing...

 

[dag]

Whether this would violate fair business practices and any applicable laws is another thing...

Considering that PC-based browsers have been doing this for years with .COM, I highly doubt it.

 

[seeker]

what PC based browsers do that for years???

I can bet that not everyone will agree that the default for any keyword from a mobile will be .mobi.

it is so easy to auto detect the browser and OS and simply load the appropriate page for a mobile phone on any extension...

 

[space101]

10-15 years ago if you had a cell phone you were a weirdo, today if you dont have one your the odd ball.

I dont know about everybody else but I'm sure when you go out to say the grocery store you see at least 10-15 people on their cells. I went to the store earlier today and I stopped counting at 12 within the first 3 minutes including the people I saw in the parking lot.

So in 3-5 yrs I have a good feeling that more web enabled cells will be around and more people will be using it in the parking lot to say compare prices of certain brands or stores in their local area. (That was just a thought of the top of my head). Like many have said in this thread it's like the .com of the early 90's.

I urge everyone to check out Flash Lite. They are starting to use it in Japan, and by the looks of it cellphones will be very advanced devices.
http://www.adobe.com/mobile/

And we have the biggest telecom, phone manufacters, and net companies behind this I think they know what their doing. IHMO it will only take phones defaulting to .MOBI for us to start seeing some serious ROI.

 

[levanle]

The internet is like a huge ocean. The current 2.6 billion mobile phones are like 2.6 billion fishes swimming in a tiny lake (voice only). It's too limited for their swimming desires (ie. processing power). Imagine what could happen if we have a channel for the fishes to swim to the ocean?

I think the mobile web opportunity in 2006 is a lot more "ripe" than internet in 1996 for some reasons:
- There are a lot more mobile phones today than computers in 1996
- The internet is already here, the cell phone users are here, we just need to "connect" them
- Cell phones today are 20 times cheaper than computers in 1996
- Internet access for cell phones today is also cheaper than in 1996. It will get even cheaper and eventually free (in fact its already free in many countries)
Just my 2 cents.

 

[seeker]

The internet is like a huge ocean. The current 2.6 billion mobile phones are like 2.6 billion fishes swimming in a tiny lake (voice only). It's too limited for their swimming desires (ie. processing power). Imagine what could happen if we have a channel for the fishes to swim to the ocean?

I think the mobile web opportunity in 2006 is a lot more "ripe" than internet in 1996 for some reasons:
- There are a lot more mobile phones today than computers in 1996
- The internet is already here, the cell phone users are here, we just need to "connect" them
- Cell phones today are 20 times cheaper than computers in 1996
- Internet access for cell phones today is also cheaper than in 1996. It will get even cheaper and eventually free (in fact its already free in many countries)
Just my 2 cents.

all excellent points.

still, it is easier in the public eye (not all cell phone users are techies) to type domain.com and have the server side detect you and load up a mobile enabled poage than to type .mobi...
mobiles are in, not so sure about .mobi

 

[BuysDomains]

There was also a turning point when domainers realized that they could earn back some revenue by parking domains.

Before the PPC concept, there really was no good way to make money off of an un-used domain.

When Mobile PPC becomes a reality- which Y! is already leading the way in, then we will realize the full value of .mobi names.

 

[dag]

what PC based browsers do that for years???

:lol: Every single one of them. You don't need to type "www" or ".com," and it's been that way for years.

Example: Type "namepros" into the address bar of your Web browser, you'll get taken here. Type anything else in there, and you'll get taken to the respective .COM. Any other extension, though, and you'll need to add the extension.

But you knew that, right?

 

[seeker]

no.
that is not correct.
it takes you to the most "active" or "most indexed" site.
and of course, a lot of times, that is a .com
if you want examples, I'll post some

just to help you out:

type the following as is in your browser without an extension:

"webhosting" ---->guess what? .info is the default
"icaan" ---> guess what, .net is the default
"ussenate" -----> wow, .gov
"peta" ----> mmmmm, .org

and the list is super large...
just because of the FACT that .com is more popular, that is the reason you many times get the .com variant.


P.S.
it also depends on your browser.
FF will give the above, while IE will simply give you an MSN result and NOT auto go to the .com.............