What's The Benefit Of A Mobile Domain?

from the no,-seriously... dept

Wed, Dec 8th 2004 11:21am — Mike Masnick

While some are still waiting for ICANN to make a decision on the .mobi domain, the folks at dotMP, who simply skipped that whole process and got some random tiny nation to let them use the .mp domain, have now opened the .mp domain for (mobile) business. As with both of our original posts on the matter, it's still not at all clear why we need this. Mobile devices are getting smarter. Mobile networks are getting faster. The web continues to get more useful. Do we really need a forked web -- where some webpages are mobile only and others are computer only? Doesn't that seem to go in the wrong direction -- making more work for everyone? It seems that a much smarter idea is to continue to make devices better at displaying the same content in ways that match the device at hand. Separating out an entire mobile domain just seems like it will be more work for anyone with a website, and more confusion for anyone trying to find information while surfing from a mobile device.

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Steve Mueller, 8 Dec 2004 @ 11:20pm

Just Say...
Just say ".no" to ".mobi".
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- Mer, 9 Dec 2004 @ 1:57am
  
  Re: Just Say...
  .mobi? Eminem must be really pissed off about that.
  
  Anyway, .mobi is dumb in just so many ways. Coopting .mp is a better short-term solution, although the restrictive design oftered by the .mp registrar leaves alot to be desired.
  
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  - Secret Squirrel, 10 Dec 2004 @ 12:30pm
    
    Re: Just Say...
    ".mobi? Eminem must be really pissed off about that."
    
    Nah, he will just set up his own site:
    
    www.fuck.mobi
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Gerry, 9 Dec 2004 @ 6:15pm

A non-solution to the wrong problem
Let's think about this - why would you need a mobile TLD anyway? From a usability perspective, it would be nice to not have to enter dot-anything for that matter! .mobi fails on that count.

Dot-mp is easier on a 3x4 keypad, sure, but the company managing it is going way beyond being just a registrar - they're providing services that compete with their own potential business customers.

So the remaining problem might be traffic management and bandwidth shaping - in theory you could route traffic to those TLDs better to accomodate mobile demands. But I'd say implementing IPv6 at the mobile level is a smarter way to do that.
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dc, 30 Oct 2006 @ 9:54pm

You are all negative about this and it needs to st
It would seem to me - the business idea makes sense. and that the registration of sites that are designed to work well for a user within a .mobi makes better sense. i think you have missed the boat here .... and you know what , we wont wait for your lazy ass. Going forward with out you.
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RED EYE, 30 Oct 2006 @ 9:59pm

.MOBI is SMART
I expect smart companies to adopt this simple technology and process, I have regsitered my companies under the .mobi. We fully expect to use the right tools to build the right solutions for our customers, and partners. RED
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