Death knell for mobile web?

[touchring]

most of you have read the .mobi arguments somewhere on the site but you still dont wnat to acceptthat is alright we dont ahve to explain when you will be entering .mobi sites on your phone in a year or 2 that will convience you , you should all go register IDN's lol which ppl dont even have a way to enter in a browser that will be a Blast wont it Duck ?

That's what you don't understand, they are already using idn in japan even before you could register an idn. To make money, if it is just to wait for people to all start using firefox or ie7, it's a no brainer right?

The earliest example i can find of a website promoting itself as an idn is 1999.
http://web.archive.org/web/19991104003213/http://kakaku.com/index.html

 

[katherine]

One thing is for sure, mobile Internet is not taking off that fast as some would want to believe
Also the original article pointed out to the situation of Japan and Korea.
I don't know about Korea but Japan is a very peculiar market. What works in Japan will not easily sell elsewhere (case in point: i-mode has flopped in Europe).

On a side note, better airtime rates would be the best thing that could possibly boost mobile usage in N. America. Mobile surfers obviously deserve a better Internet experience but they couldn't care less about just another tld.

 

[JMJ]

My phone is internet ready but the only time I ever log on is to pay my bill. Never even considered checking my mail by it. When I'm away from the computer I'm away from it for a reason. Thats to get away from the computer. I think companies will spend more money investing in WiMax tech than anything. Primarily to reach rural customers. Cellphones have been around for longer than the internet and you still can't get mobile coverage in lots of places in the US.

 

[acronym007]

The thing will .mobi that is rarely mentioned is that not every company owns their own .mobi name. So, if your looking for loan.com you might loan.mobi and they might be two different companies which will only breed more confusion.

 

[Ehsan]

That's what you don't understand, they are already using idn in japan even before you could register an idn. To make money, if it is just to wait for people to all start using firefox or ie7, it's a no brainer right?

The earliest example i can find of a website promoting itself as an idn is 1999.
http://web.archive.org/web/19991104003213/http://kakaku.com/index.html

Just desnt seem right english is getting more of a International Language or is that other Languages are getting better , i dont see an IDN takeover in 15 years , even here people are getting Urdu names in English for eg Urdu for Food is "Khana" and go search google there are sites like www.khanapakana.com no one even knows how to enter text on a computer in urdu and its pretty difficult to enter urdu text even via special programs so its just better to get the name in english letters rather than IDN's

 

[Rubber Duck]

Just desnt seem right english is getting more of a International Language or is that other Languages are getting better , i dont see an IDN takeover in 15 years , even here people are getting Urdu names in English for eg Urdu for Food is "Khana" and go search google there are sites like www.khanapakana.com no one even knows how to enter text on a computer in urdu and its pretty difficult to enter urdu text even via special programs so its just better to get the name in english letters rather than IDN's

That is a truly pathetic argument. You should find out what is going down in the country with the World's biggest Urdu speaking population!

 

[MobileDesigner]

jesh.....

.mobi and IDNs are another way to access. Owners of IDN and .mobi are not claiming to make a huge company or make a crap-load of money, but yet would like to get exposure.

Instead of looking at this from ONE perspective, let me show you a few:

1. Japanese (especially in Tokyo and larget cities here) have difficulty communicating to strangers.
2. Japanese are taught "not to look at a stranger's eyes or at a senior".
3. There is a lot of waiting time for eating at restaurants, waiting for trains, banks, etc since there are a lot of people.
4. Japanese are big learners. They are interested about other news from around the world unlike the majority in the west.
5. We have great mobile service here like "packet houdai" (all you can download packet fees).
6. the "mobile content providers" are just growing and growing.
7. It is easier for a mobile company to get into the mobile industry.
8. There are more people that ride the train than use a car (employeers are required by law to pay for employees train pass)
9. more people walk than ride.

Now combine all of these and you have a trend of mobile users.

There are a crap-load of extensions that you can see on "mobile magazines" sold at stores. Having one extension would help the confusion, but .jp is mostly used for mobile devices and .co.jp and .com, .net are used for companies that have supplied a lot of painful and time-consuming paperwork to get .co.jp.
Yes, IDNs are limited, but i have seen a lot in trains and magazines. Unfortunately, you cannot type an IDN in the current mobile phone's URL.

So new companies (which the mobile industry is steadily growing here in asia) what NAME and EXTENSION shall they get? www.Mobile2.com!?!?!? taken. so when a new extension comes out, hell, why not get it!?

For one guy who got fired (and i wonder what for) who says that the mobile industry will flop, is just plain stupid.

I see the industry now. i work in the mobile industry. if someone writes that .mobi is a flop and the mobile internet will flop, it is the same thing as saying "the sky is falling." just looks stupid for me to read such crap.

 

[mjnels]

death to .mobi

yes, and everlasting life to the all purposeful, all meaningful, completely necessary: .info TLD

 

[Onward]

yes, and everlasting life to the all purposeful, all meaningful, completely necessary: .info TLD

Ya know...I have always thought .info sucks big time...I was into domains before the ext. came out got a couple decent names at the opening...dropped a few (which I regret) kept some which I have sold for a coupe k - a piece...still have a few others. I still think .info sucks...it just has made me some cash...so I guess it does not suck.

I can say the exact same for .mobi

 

[rodash]

.Mobi is already dead (IMHO) and the nail in the coffin went in when the iPhone came out. You can view standard web sites on iPhones, and given that all other phone manufacturers will now emulate the iPhone, what place is there for .Mobi?

I've got a couple of dozen of these names but in my mind I've written them off and when they come up for renewal I won't be bothering to renew them.

..

 

[touchring]

Just desnt seem right english is getting more of a International Language or is that other Languages are getting better , i dont see an IDN takeover in 15 years , even here people are getting Urdu names in English for eg Urdu for Food is "Khana" and go search google there are sites like www.khanapakana.com no one even knows how to enter text on a computer in urdu and its pretty difficult to enter urdu text even via special programs so its just better to get the name in english letters rather than IDN's

i agree with this for the case of pakistan and india even more so, but not every country has an english legacy.

 

[hugegrowth]

It does seem like the mobile web is taking a long time to develop in North America. Lots of cellphones around but you don't hear of people doing too much on mobile web yet. Talk and texting are still the big draws, but I think mobile web will get bigger in time.

 

[accent]

Will people look up informaton on cell phones? Only the information they can use - restaurants, movie times and locations, what taxi to call, directions to somewhere.

It is the internet, yes, but seen from a different perspective. People are not going to do involved projects on mobile devices, like they do on PCs. Because of their size, phones are not well suited for in-depth research.

But a website offering coupons to the store in front of them, that will be of interest. .Mobi would be a great extension for that coupon site - not only would a better name probably be available / afordable, but the extension tells the user that the site is for mobile devices - not only will it fit their screen without all that scrolling and resizing but, much more importantly, that it is intended for the uses that the user intends to use it for.

Say you are visiting StrangeCity and were sitting in the airport on arrival. You whip out your iphone and Google "StrangeCity Hotel" and get two listings:
FindStrangeCityHotels.com and
StrangeCityHotelFinder.mobi

Which do you try first? My guess is that you try the .mobi - because you know that website is intended to be used by people on mobile devices.

Granted, knowledge of the extension's existence and meaning needs to percolate into the public's mind - a slow process but I see it happening.

 

[touchring]

jesh.....

.mobi and IDNs are another way to access. Owners of IDN and .mobi are not claiming to make a huge company or make a crap-load of money, but yet would like to get exposure.

Instead of looking at this from ONE perspective, let me show you a few:

1. Japanese (especially in Tokyo and larget cities here) have difficulty communicating to strangers.
2. Japanese are taught "not to look at a stranger's eyes or at a senior".
3. There is a lot of waiting time for eating at restaurants, waiting for trains, banks, etc since there are a lot of people.
4. Japanese are big learners. They are interested about other news from around the world unlike the majority in the west.
5. We have great mobile service here like "packet houdai" (all you can download packet fees).
6. the "mobile content providers" are just growing and growing.
7. It is easier for a mobile company to get into the mobile industry.
8. There are more people that ride the train than use a car (employeers are required by law to pay for employees train pass)
9. more people walk than ride.

Now combine all of these and you have a trend of mobile users.

Actually, i agree with you if you explain it this way. but in this case, dot mobi might be able to work in japan - but japan only.

Yes, IDNs are limited, but i have seen a lot in trains and magazines. Unfortunately, you cannot type an IDN in the current mobile phone's URL.

You want your prospective customers to know you by your company or product name, but not some weird string like t2k8.org. This is known within the marketing circles are branding. :lol:

But it is precisely this branding that limits dot mobi outside of Japan. You don't want to advertise 2 domains, e.g. http://www.dnforum.com and http://www.dnforum.mobi, this will cause great confusion.

http://www.dnforum.com and http://mobile.dnforum.com would be more practical. :lol::lol:

 

[MobileDesigner]

But it is precisely this branding that limits dot mobi outside of Japan. You don't want to advertise 2 domains, e.g. http://www.dnforum.com and http://www.dnforum.mobi, this will cause great confusion.

http://www.dnforum.com and http://mobile.dnforum.com would be more practical. :lol::lol:

i totally agree with you. But if an American company already has www.cool.com and http://mobile.cool.com and an Asian country wants www.cool.com, but they cant (their company was created later) and www.cool.mobi (as its a mobile company) is available, surely they would take it...no?

Obviously, the large companys have their names patent, but there are generic names with .mobi that they would like to use to at least bring in more clients.

As i mentioned many times (sorry to bring this up again and again), my last name is already being used as an engineering company. but i want people to contact me for my services and i want to use my last name. and .mobi is available. should i not reg www.mylastname.mobi?

Surely everyone wants .com but they are all taken. To not cause any anger (or jealousy) with the .mobi haters, i shouldnt buy any other extension? i dont care about regging any other extension but if i live in the region (.asia and .jp) and i work in the mobile industry (.mobi), i dont see any problems buying any of these extensions. Im happy with them. Some i have made profit selling them (soley for the purpose to help finish my education). But when i see people posting things like ".mobi sucks", etc, this makes me angry.

I feel that im playing with children. Most of the kids have red bikes and i have a black one. So these red bike owning kids say "black bikes suck" simply because i see things differently. And it doenst have to do with the speed or color of the bike. it has to do with "how well you peddle your bike".

 

[touchring]

I feel that im playing with children. Most of the kids have red bikes and i have a black one. So these red bike owning kids say "black bikes suck" simply because i see things differently. And it doenst have to do with the speed or color of the bike. it has to do with "how well you peddle your bike".

It's good to be open minded about stuff, especially in creative and design industry, but in biz, it's the branding that counts, why would 98% of people use google and not live.com? Both are search engines and both can find stuff on the net?

And why would japanese people continue using kanji. Habits just do not go away.

 

[Rubber Duck]

If you are still talking non-smart phones here, you are going to be damned lucky if you can cram StrangeCityHotelFinder.Mobi into into your URL Bar.:lol:

Will people look up informaton on cell phones? Only the information they can use - restaurants, movie times and locations, what taxi to call, directions to somewhere.

It is the internet, yes, but seen from a different perspective. People are not going to do involved projects on mobile devices, like they do on PCs. Because of their size, phones are not well suited for in-depth research.

But a website offering coupons to the store in front of them, that will be of interest. .Mobi would be a great extension for that coupon site - not only would a better name probably be available / afordable, but the extension tells the user that the site is for mobile devices - not only will it fit their screen without all that scrolling and resizing but, much more importantly, that it is intended for the uses that the user intends to use it for.

Say you are visiting StrangeCity and were sitting in the airport on arrival. You whip out your iphone and Google "StrangeCity Hotel" and get two listings:
FindStrangeCityHotels.com and
StrangeCityHotelFinder.mobi

Which do you try first? My guess is that you try the .mobi - because you know that website is intended to be used by people on mobile devices.

Granted, knowledge of the extension's existence and meaning needs to percolate into the public's mind - a slow process but I see it happening.

i totally agree with you. But if an American company already has www.cool.com and http://mobile.cool.com and an Asian country wants www.cool.com, but they cant (their company was created later) and www.cool.mobi (as its a mobile company) is available, surely they would take it...no?

Obviously, the large companys have their names patent, but there are generic names with .mobi that they would like to use to at least bring in more clients.

As i mentioned many times (sorry to bring this up again and again), my last name is already being used as an engineering company. but i want people to contact me for my services and i want to use my last name. and .mobi is available. should i not reg www.mylastname.mobi?

Surely everyone wants .com but they are all taken. To not cause any anger (or jealousy) with the .mobi haters, i shouldnt buy any other extension? i dont care about regging any other extension but if i live in the region (.asia and .jp) and i work in the mobile industry (.mobi), i dont see any problems buying any of these extensions. Im happy with them. Some i have made profit selling them (soley for the purpose to help finish my education). But when i see people posting things like ".mobi sucks", etc, this makes me angry.

I feel that im playing with children. Most of the kids have red bikes and i have a black one. So these red bike owning kids say "black bikes suck" simply because i see things differently. And it doenst have to do with the speed or color of the bike. it has to do with "how well you peddle your bike".

And none of this is going to bring you in the big budget advertising that is going to be necessary to implant dot Mobi into the mind of the populous. You success is going to be limited largely to the strength of your own advertising budget, that would have been much better invested in a dot com.

 

[bwhhisc]

haahaha:lol: buying IDN's is not the smartest thing to do , i bet you buy newspaper written in IDN's that you cant understand

What advertiser is going to spend money to advertise a URL that that the people seeing the ad can't read?

IDN.idn is going to be a boon for advertising agencies around the world. The only thing that has slowed down implementation was lack of browser support for IDN which is now available with rollout of IE7. That rollout (that we got over a year ago) is just truly getting underway in Japan, Korea, China, and elsewhere.

ICANN is fixing to spend tens of millions of dollars on idn.idn rollout to make the internet more accessable and user friendly in all languages. Google "ICANN 2009 budget" and take a read. It's written in stone.

 

[katherine]

And none of this is going to bring you in the big budget advertising that is going to be necessary to implant dot Mobi into the mind of the populous. You success is going to be limited largely to the strength of your own advertising budget, that would have been much better invested in a dot com.

Word

 

[MobileDesigner]

And none of this is going to bring you in the big budget advertising that is going to be necessary to implant dot Mobi into the mind of the populous. You success is going to be limited largely to the strength of your own advertising budget, that would have been much better invested in a dot com.

As you dream to sell your .info for big bucks, ill be doing business elsewhere. what you say will never change. You have already decided who you are and what you will be and what you will do and how you believe. you are not ready for change. you are stuck in the past.

good luck... you are gonna need it.k: