There is a huge difference between a scam and Hype..I think the fact that newbies dont understand that difference is part of the problem... If anyone thinks that the .mobi bosses do any of this for the sake of advancing mobile technology should get their brain checked.
There is no doubt that the people that came up with the idea that a new tld for cellphones is needed have their own interest in mind. I think what causes at least the mobi pricing to be outstanding right now is that fact that so many new people are trying to get into the game. I am not jealous of anyone making money, I think its a good thing that helpd the greater good.
But I think from a rational point this tld is not needed as it doesnt have a technical advantage, its good PR, no doubt, and I am not saying its not successful, but assigning values to domains in which the tlds virtually have no development yet or traffic is similar to pricing stocks at high PEs, that doesnt mean it might not worth anything, but it means if you pay 10k for some mobi, you already paid for all that potential and taking all the risk without a lot of upside perspective.
The frequent comments that this tld is "backed" by big players are meaningless,...because this tld is technically not different from any other, its just a tld, the .cc tld is "supported" as well by all those guys, is .cc successful? Its really good marketing, and it might even drive the development of the mobile web, and I hope so, but with the stock market and what most people (as least those that buy at high prices)..dont understand: there is a difference between a good company and a good stock (the analogy being that the mobile technology is a great thing, but that doesnt mean a tld that proclaims itself as a mobile tld is a good investment as well)... congrats to all the great sales, thats money that is being put back in the domainworld, so thats a good thing, I would just like say that it might be a good idea to take some of those great offers while the valueations are high.