Yanni, I've used the Internet since the early days of Compulink and I'm very familiar with the traits of Greek surfers. As with most things in Greece, nothing of substance will change so I won't be holding my breath about IDN changes either.
So, from the days when most Greeks didn't know what e-mail was, to today when almost every Dick, Tom and Harry owns a laptop and asks you to check out his/her facebook page, nothing of substance has changed according to you. You must be confusing Greek Government with lifestyle when you talk about changes of substance in Greece.
...but the truth is that their type-in traffic is much higher than any Greek IDN that does not rely on development/bookmarks.
I never claimed otherwise. All I said was that, presented with the option, the surfer will eventually choose what comes natural to her. Gravitate to her own language. Hence the reason I shared some of the stats from
one of my Greek IDN sites which clearly show that traits do in fact change over time. Even when facing some difficulty [ switching language to append the tld. ]
Imagine now, if you will, what will happen when she will not have to change script to type a full domain, and she can also use a fully IDN compatible e-mail [ÎαÏία@ΠαÏαδάκη.κομ]
It's a hypothetical question, because I already know your answer.
I would never type in ÎαÏαίÏι.gr as it is, your example is extreme.
So you're saying that the word 'Knife' is a word that is not one that would be type-able? Would have you preferred the plural version? I fail to see the extremity of my example.
Amuse me for a second if you will.
I just typed 'ξενοδοÏεια' [hotels] in Google.gr and here's what came up first two pages, non-sponsored results...
hotelsroom.gr/
travelplanet24.com/hotels
hotelsline.gr
booking.com/index.el.html
hotelink.gr
clickhere.gr/.../hotels_greece_greek.html
gto.gr/indexgr.htm
ξενοδοÏεια.ws
airtickets.gr
dir.forthnet.gr/337-0-gr.html
el.hotels.com/.../xenodocheia-athena-ellada/
trivago.gr
hotels-in-greece.com/default-g.php
ξενοδοÏεια.gr
iosholiday.com/gr/
zakynthosonline.com/.../hotels.el.html
Appearance order not withstanding, you, as Greek, which ones would you try first or, which ones would you remember to type-in later in the day?
But the fools at Skai Radio that promote "ÎÏή.gr" (Life) as the name of their variety show didn't register the IDN - someone else did. If the content provider doesn't care for IDNs why would the surfers care?
I can't talk specifically about Skai, but in their majority, most major businesses find IDNs difficult -much like the surfer- because they're not fully IDN yet and, there's no IDN e-mail compatibility, yet.
But this is what I've been saying all along. This is all about to change, soon. I'm sure you've been following the latest ICANN headlines over the past year or so.
And, my contention is, that when IDNs and related services become fully 'functional', businesses will change their tune and so will surfers eventually.
[as a humble content provider myself -no matter how small and insignificant in the greater scheme- I offered a half-finished product [xn--somethingGreek.com] and I witnessed the habits of my surfers change. I can only imagine what will happen when I give them the full Monte.]
You're saying the above will not happen, especially in Greece.
I suppose we'll just have to wait and see...
To claim $22k in annual revenue from a non-porn, non-gambling Greek IDN domain is very questionable, and without any substantial proof of revenue I simply don't believe it.
As my friend bwhhisc mentioned above, it was seven sites in total. That you don't believe it does not surprise me one bit. You wouldn't be Greek if you did. :lol:
