The .TEL Discussion Thread

[brendan52190]

Hi

For this, let's assume that .tel will not be a total flop.

What type of keywords will be most valuable for this extension? Will it be geographical keywords, like newyork.tel, losangeles.tel, etc, or what else?

 

[phase111]

No I don't wish to see other people fail, that's unfair really.
actually I've contributed more than my fair share of warnings. Otherwise I would be encouraging everybody to buy more .tel names :kickass:
Since the central idea behind the scheme is that .tel is going to be some sort of standard as a communication hub (like .mobi is promoted as a 'standard' for mobile-friendly websites), you should really ask yourself if the registry has the clout and financial means to achieve that goal. Consumer awareness needs to be fostered on a grand scale. Let's face it, nobody outside domaining/computing circles has ever heard of .tel. The question is... how do you get the message across, how do you convince end users to invest in yet another redundant extension etc :talk:
Fact is, most extensions never took off even after many years of existence, but let's consider for a moment .tel could succeed to some extent within 5 or 10 years... are you in for the long haul ?
I suspect most .tel holders just want to cash in fast

Great debate thanks. Personally Im not expecting .tel to become an overnight success either, but maybe it will and if so that's great- it's just a wait and see at the mo! People still have to hear about it and want to use it on a grand scale as you say, most of us arent saying this will happen lightening fast, but as Plaggy says, it does serve a specific purpose where all other tld's dont (because they all do the same thing- host websites). I just think it's really far too early to say it will fail when it's so different and has great viral properties that will help foster uptake on a huge scale in the next few years.
Yes, it may take years, it may take less than a few years but I think you'll find many .tel investors are here for the long haul anyway. Personally I want to build directories with many of mine...I may just sell one or two early on to help create these. Jamarie.vip.tel has already proved that .tel can be SEO'd quite well, so in the early stages I would be building a directory with this in mind- dot tel provides an easy platform to build my directories. If you think flowers.tel or music.tel and many other premium domains and geo domains wont be worth vastly more than the $300 paid for them each, then you will be in for a huge surprise I think...the fact that people will be able to flip them for such big profits early on is success in itself...the same also goes for .mobi, as much as Im not a fan of it, so from this aspect alone, both domains have been a success for the few fortunate enough to have great domain names.
If this were just another tld and was called .business or .shop or whatever, i would agree that it would most likely follow all the other website based tld's that have not succeeded so far.. maybe they will way way down the track but for a good few years it's not hard to see why they wont have traction- they all do the same thing and there are too many of them with not enough of a market yet. With the type of restrictions telnic have set with .tel, it's not hard to see why, it wouldn't be as useful or practical any other way...it's simple in the fact that it lets people have a domain that can be set up and run straight away...a website doesn't need to be built for it and this feature alone will be invaluable to a huge amount of small buisnesses and the public who want a web presence without building a website. This is a still a very real; problem and I know IT and website pros may disagree, but they would. building a website may not be difficult these days, or even that expensive, but the perception for many business owners is that it is, there are too many options and it has to be maintained..many of these people see a web presence still as a headache, one that .tel would easily cure. i know this to be true because Ive talked to many small operators in the past that just see the internet as a complicated and expensive advertising option still. .tel provides a contacts point that is more personal than a YP listing too, it's not difficult for me to see this taking off virally at all.
:kickass:

 

[justinhayward]

@Justin Thank you for the updates.

I found a nice wordpress plugin for your dot tels...
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/gwa-tel-contact-manager/screenshots/

You'll be seeing a lot more than that at dev.telinc.org - including several softphones that dial .tel domains (do a lookup and allow the user to choose the number if there are multiples). The wordpress app is also on the domain.

Henri worked on the iPhone app on the way home from Mexico - he reckons it's a couple of hours away from being acceptable for iStore/iTunes

I used it to change my profile over the past day and - excuse me, I'm very English, but - IT ROCKS!

OK, now I'll behave.

06.03.09 - the day it all changed.

Justin
justin.tel

 

[plaggypig]

Welcome back home, Justin

That's a beautiful announcement, it sums up the incredible perseverance that Telnic has shown to reach this point, and the belief that you have in your product.

Heartfelt congratulations are in order for everybody at Telnic, for getting here, and doing such a great job along the way - nobody can deny you this, and I really am in awe for what you've achieved together. You should rightfully feel very proud!

- Andy.

 

[AnthonyH]

Just got this from Domainmonster where I have registered a few .tels.

Due to some last minute delays with the .tel hosting platform launch, access to your .tel control panel will now be from 13:00 UTC on Monday 9th March 2009.

Believe it or not that's my birthday!
A good omen I hope.

 

[phase111]

Just got this from Domainmonster where I have registered a few .tels.

Believe it or not that's my birthday!
A good omen I hope.

Wow, you're easy to buy for lol

 

[steveteva]

You'll be seeing a lot more than that at dev.telinc.org - including several softphones that dial .tel domains (do a lookup and allow the user to choose the number if there are multiples). The wordpress app is also on the domain.

Henri worked on the iPhone app on the way home from Mexico - he reckons it's a couple of hours away from being acceptable for iStore/iTunes

I used it to change my profile over the past day and - excuse me, I'm very English, but - IT ROCKS!

OK, now I'll behave.

06.03.09 - the day it all changed.

Justin
justin.tel

YEP it's a historical day in domaining and new technology. :hehe:
In the past I remember when .com launches, many of my friends "computer geeks" didn't even thought that registering a generic were investment and many were available. Also at this time a dot com was very expensive to register not $8.00 like you see now, me too wasn't interested, I was thinking that it was only for companies. But since name like business.com flowers.com and other record sales was made that domaining was a new business. Some lucky guys did register generics when .com launches and are now successful in domaining.

I miss the .com train so I don't want to miss the .tel oportunity.

 

[FreakySteve]

Congrats to everyone at Telnic! :kickass:

Telsters unite, it begins!

 

[aliencafe]

telsters UNITE!!!

 

[plaggypig]

So who's .tels are live now?

I've found about a dozen.. none of mine yet though.

 

[onspec]

i still dont see the point in .tel

if i want to order pizza on my iphone i could open google maps and just type in pizza and it will show everything around me automatically and i can push a selection and it will start calling them. i could also open the yellow pages app on my phone and search for pizza. both ways i am guaranteed to find pizza places. if someone types in a .tel domain in their mobile web browser there is no guarantee they will be taken to reliable pizza information nearby. it could be owned by a domainer or something instead of pizza hut.

.tel isnt competing with paper phonebooks. people dont carry paper phonebooks in their pockets on the go. .tel is competing with all the location based apps and mobile sites and google maps directly. no way .tel can compete with google maps. i can just open google maps without having to open a slow web browser and type in the word hotel or pizza or anything and it will instantly show all of those things near me and on the map. what would people think is more realiable information, google maps or a .tel domain which could be owned by a domainer? i could even open google maps and just type the word dominos if i want to be more specific or go to their mobile website and check out their coupons and stuff.

there is absolutely no point in .tel and people are wasting a lot of money on those domains at that crazy high price right now. its worth it to pick up one or two premium ones just incase since anything can happen but anyone who buys a whole portfolio of them is crazy.

Love your way of thinking...

 

[wot]

Is it not fortunate that we have the opportunity to choose what we want to invest in.

I have the right to buy what ever I want , you have the right to criticize/comment on my purchases - if you have nothing better to do than be concerned about other peoples investment.

.tel- will either tank and end up in the domain wasteland or it will be successful. If it is the latter those that bought will be smug and satisfied. If it tanks the naysayers will be happy and be able to say I told you so- if of course that have nothing better to do.

Me- I have invested a few dollars in .tel - not enough to be concerned about if it goes belly up- but that is the way you should look at this business in general- don't overstretch but definitely go with your personal gut feeling, very often works :gl:

 

[chader144]

So who's .tels are live now?

I've found about a dozen.. none of mine yet though.

Who? do tel

 

[kukgle]

It's already Go LIVE, right? Anyone has a link to whois page?

 

[saucey]

All,

Having just landed from ICANN Mexico (yes, I didn't flee and indeed they did let me back into the country), I'd like to confirm to Namepros.com as you may have seen Henri our CTO twittering, things are moving. .tel domains are being injected into the DNS. We're live. You may get access to your management console from your registrar today (some are), but you may have to wait - this isn't something we have control over, but if there's anything we can do, let us know.

This is an historic day. Regardless of the commercial success, or the success of domaining in general, I personally am really proud of where we've got to. As I told the ICANN community on Monday, the .tel will remove the last barrier to entry to provide a presence on the internet without having to build, host and manage a website. And this will all soon be done without having to open a PC or computer browser.

Some get it, some will in time, and some will reject it. But it's starting, here. This is a fundamentally new service on the internet that exposes an incredibly powerful use of the infrastructure of the internet. For everyone. And, as it's new, it will have teething problems and we are open and available for all feedback, bugs, issues and suggestions.

Thank you all - everyone - for your comments, discussions, passion and complaints. We won't stop listening. We won't stop developing. This really is the beginning of something that has taken almost a decade to realize but something that we fundamentally believe will drive the vision of 'a domain for everyone, under their control' that enables the next generation of communications.

Thanks all,

Justin Hayward
Telnic Limited
justin.tel

Thanx Justin! Good to see all of your hardwork come into fruition!
Also, thanks for all of the updates!

Saucey + .Tel = :hearts:

 

[hullswingerscom]

I've found about a dozen.. none of mine yet though

were you see these live tels?

 

[hasseily]

Henri worked on the iPhone app on the way home from Mexico - he reckons it's a couple of hours away from being acceptable for iStore/iTunes

Mr Hayward, I do appreciate the subtlety with which you managed to bestow upon my poor self a stressful sense of urgency and pressure to release the app.

I used it to change my profile over the past day and - excuse me, I'm very English, but - IT ROCKS!

Maybe, but that doesn't absolve you from your above-quoted slimy trick.

That said, it's coming. I'm rejiggering the privacy groups management right now and will release when that's done.
I'll release a followup update when I add friending request/acceptance capability.

 

[saucey]

Just attempted to access my .tel...

Here's the message....

Due to some last minute delays with the .tel hosting platform launch, access to your .tel control panel will now be from 13:00 UTC on Monday 9th March 2009.

Should these issues be resolved by the .tel registry before then, we will enable access immediately.

In the mean time, please look at this Simulator to see how you will be able to configure your .tel domain.

Bummer! I was looking forward to this! Hrrrrrrmpffff another couple of days to go....

 

[hasseily]

Just attempted to access my .tel...

Here's the message....

Due to some last minute delays with the .tel hosting platform launch, access to your .tel control panel will now be from 13:00 UTC on Monday 9th March 2009.

Should these issues be resolved by the .tel registry before then, we will enable access immediately.

In the mean time, please look at this Simulator to see how you will be able to configure your .tel domain.

Bummer! I was looking forward to this! Hrrrrrrmpffff another couple of days to go....

FYI this all depends on your registrar, and how much integration the registrar is doing with the .tel control panel. Some registrars are live already, and others will soon be.

Please understand that some registrars are taking longer not because of incompetence on one side or another, but in order to give you a more seamless experience with single-sign-on, etc... between their systems and the community hosted .tel control panel. Needless to say that we are working hand-in-hand with them to add features to the community Telhosting to improve the user experience.

The market for .tel is significantly broader than that of any other TLD, and Telnic is aiming to improve the overall processes and user experiences for the mass market.

What I'm trying to say is that one shouldn't rate registrars based only on how quickly they go live after we give everyone the go-ahead, but also (and more importantly) on the whole user experience when acquiring and using a .tel domain. And that may take a tad longer for some, but is ultimately more rewarding for all parties concerned.

 

[plaggypig]

whois.nic.tel is now live!

 

[kukgle]

whois.nic.tel is now live!

I could not access to this page.