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This one is from the comment area of a related post. It makes for a very good read with many good points.
Enjoy!
Happy ThanksGiving To all!
.mobi I am not for or against it. I only own 1 .mobi name. I am a man that believes you should embrace what you believe in, even if it is not the popular ideal at the time. You never know what the future holds.
I have seen many domain trends since being in this industry from 1999 off and on. I have met alot of great people along the way as well. Additionally, I find new domain success stories from people you never heard of before. (Which is always great news!) Everytime I decide to become active again in the industry, I notice new consumer internet trends evolving and new domain extentions being offered. Nothing has stayed the same on search/consumer online tactics since 1999 and things we thought would never happen, have happened (You old timers know what I am talking about). You no longer need a great generic .com name to be successful on the internet. Ever heard of craigslist.org, wikipedia.org or del.ico.us =) It is all about content creativity, seo, platform technology and strategy.
It’s called evolution and it occurs only when animals and people need it to survive or function in their environment.
Remember when .CC and .TV officially launched (initial launch) and all the seasoned domainers back then said they would fail and never make it in the mainstream? They were right about .CC, but wrong about the .tv extention. It took 4-5 years for that extention to be accepted in mainstream media due to the lack of .com names being availale. It is the only new extention to make it in main stream media as a substitute for a .com. While most were correct about .CC, they were off about .tv. What has hurt the .tv extention from exponential growth are the unrealistic registration fees for generic names, absurd renewal fees for the generic names bought, and foolish nonguarantee of set pricing. I do not forsee any future growth for .tv commercially other than social sites now imho unless they change their current process of doing business.
It is probally safe to say that over 98% of .mobi sales have occurred between domain speculators; arising doubt in seasoned domainers about this extentions future and value to end users and prices being paid. Maybe they are right about .mobi and it will fail. Only consumers, technology, and an individuals creativity will determine the outcome success/failure of .mobi.
Check out www.HelloMetro.com to see how this guy used creativity to utilize his .mobi domains on each of his hello city portals. Simply genious!
I have lived and traveled to many countries all over europe, egypt, iraq, afghanistan, turkey, korea, etc. and one thing is certain for those countries outside the united states, everyone uses their cellphone religously for everything, nothing compared to the United States and they hold on to their outdated phones until they break or get lost. I believe it will take 3-5 years for the same thing to happen with .mobi to catch on like .tv, unless new affordable technology is developed for use with your current model of cellphone. This is where evolution is taking place to meet consumers needs in their mobile environment.
People say the unaffordable $500.00 for 95% of consumers Apple iPhone has this technology already, and there is no need for .mobi. Apple also owns the patent for the same cell phone technology. Google is not far behind with additional patents pending. Until a company develops and offers affordable cellphone internet technology that is not in violation of Apple’s patent, then a void needs to be filled for consumers different cellphone models needing/wanting to be mobile and connected to the net. Maybe .mobi will fill this void until that happens.
Maybe, just maybe, Big Business/Madison Avenue is looking at the .com market the same way seasoned domainers are looking at .mobi? Since most of the .com sales at all the domain conference auctions occur between domain portfoio owners and fortune 500 companies. There are very few TRUE end users who purchase these .com names at the big auctions. Ever think about this analogy? Anyone have stats to show different? IMHO, A domain portfolio owner who purchases a name at auction can hardly be identified as an end user as they will only build the business to flip it for a greater profit most of the time, ex creditcards.com.
Domains are commodities like coffee, sugar, rice, wheat as an analogy. Supply and demand determine the daily prices set on these commodities during trading. Same can be said with domains. If I buy flowers.mobi for $19.99 and I sell it for $200,000, I just met someones demand. Profit is profit no mater where it comes from whether an end user or fellow domainer. It all spends the same way. Is that not an outstanding ROI for a domain name even if it is not a .com? 98% of domainers are in the business to sell names to anyone for a profit. Simply about supply and demand for those starting out and not interested in developing a site.
Seasoned successful domainers are on a different level than those domainers in the trenches trying to make it, nothing bad about that. Most people got in this business to make money. Few are interested in changing the internet and developing domain technologies to revolutionize the world. They are just trying to improve their quality of life from the day job. We should not discourage and offend them on where they decided to start out in this business, everyone needs a starting point. We should indeed provide leadership, mentorship, coaching and training when feasible thru blogs as well as at conferences to educate domainers on additional avenues to pursue in addition to their current game plan.
Do you remember that feeling when you were starting out and people said you would never make it and wasting your time on domains? To some, they believe in their .mobi’s, people let them be. No need in offending people based on an opinion that can not be validated until the future.
In order to see the future, you must analyze the past. History always repeats itself in different manifestations allowing individuals with foresight opportunity.
My advice to anyone who invests in domains is to diversify your investments to prevent minmal losses in case your domain game plan changes/fails. Do not place all your eggs in one basket. =)
Google and Yahoo may end PPC with new technology to keep all advertiser revenue in the near future. What then? Evolution continues”..
Good luck to all of you with vision and happy domaining.
Technology will change the way we use the internet. Nothing great lasts forever, there is always someone developing something better for an end user. One thing is certain, change is inevitable, embace it, analyze it, and find ways to profit from it financially or professionally.
Sorry for the long post. Great blog Sahar!
Godspeed,
Steve
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