Comments on: .mobi Gets Sold Off

By: Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? | Technology Magazine

Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? | Technology Magazine — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:00:51 +0000

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By: Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? - Mobile News

Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? - Mobile News — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:41:56 +0000

[...] [Wireless Week via MobHappy] [...]

By: Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? | Mobile Telephones

Afilias buys “.mobi” domain, but will it help? | Mobile Telephones — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:09:18 +0000

[...] [Wireless Week via MobHappy] [...]

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:04:36 +0000

“What the .mobi haters and smear campaigners always conveniently forget is that there are new businesses and start ups that can’t use the .com because it is already taken. I am talking generic keywords and non trademarked terms and names. Since the .com is not available and mobile internet is the future .mobi is perfect for them and many excellent names are available at a much lower pricetag then the .com if the .com is even available. They can even build a PC site on it that recognizes mobile devices if they like just like a .com
The shortsightedness of some people as far as .mobi is concerned has always amazed me.

By: Franco

Franco — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:03:08 +0000

Well .mobi was a valid proposal for how to help people find content suitable for phones – it wasn’t a necessity, but a convenience – many such products are successfully marketed every day. But this one wasn’t, despite the big backers. A real case study for business schools. What went wrong?

Look at the management.

These people were seriously stupid and out of control – after a big loss in 2007-2008 they did not cut expenses, yet income then fell by another 30% in 2008-2009. What were they expecting in 2008-2009??? A sudden boom in registrations or some huge auctions of reserved keywords? No chance. These people just thought if they sucked up to big business they’d get the 3m registrations or more they needed just to cover their fat expenses and they could ignore everyone.

Seriously, think about it – the expenses were really big, what did they think would cover them? I really think they just assumed they would get a lot of registrations and use by big corps right from the start, then everyone else would just obediently follow. And when big registration numbers and use did by corps including their own so called “backers” did not happen, there was no plan B – they just covered up and ran it into the ground instead of trying something
different. Losers.

The idea of a company set up to promote the mobile web is laughable. Where is the company set up to promote the printed word, the internet, or the medium of television?

By: App Developer

App Developer — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:57:38 +0000

Does anybody know roughly how much the Irish company paid for .mobi rights?

By: About Mobility » Blog Archive » .mobi enters a new phase?

About Mobility » Blog Archive » .mobi enters a new phase? — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:48:05 +0000

[...] I read via MobHappy that .mobi Gets Sold Off. [...]

By: C. Enrique Ortiz

C. Enrique Ortiz — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:53:04 +0000

I wasn’t aware the dotMobi was getting sold/acquired. Interesting.

Well, I too was and still am a believer that it is not the domain what should “determine” the rendering behavior of the specified host but rather the connecting device class. Because of this I was skeptical and kind of defensive when dotMobi was introduced.

But a lot of good things came out from dotMobi and definitely it created a lot of awareness about mobile an “mobile web”. I give a lot of credit to James and his vision; I believe he was sincere and in the end, it made a real impact. Today people know mobile and that dotMobi means mobile.

I have the feeling .mobi is here to stay, and perhaps it should not be about “mobile content” (its original purpose), but “mobile institutions”, similarly to how .com is about commercial and .net about network related or provider and edu about educational institutions.

ceo

By: James Pearce

James Pearce — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:12:53 +0000

I wouldn’t call it a charade. Lots of companies and bodies have tried all sorts of ways to promote mobile and its technologies. This was just another, and I believe it was sincere.

Using the domain as promotion for the new medium is not a bad idea – after all, the colloquial understanding of .com correlated strongly with the take off of the original web.

(And today’s host of developer competitions to build out ‘open’ app stores… think those are any more altruistic?)

Maybe I was hoodwinked – but I seriously doubt it. Personally I felt dotMobi had a unique opportunity to harness commitment from mobile industry (and domain) investors – and stimulate the knowledge and enthusiasm amongst site owners and technologists that mobile needs.

To wit, mobiForge, DeviceAtlas, Mowser, ready.mobi etc etc. Because of their influence, I hope these initiatives all continue in one form or another.

So in many ways, dotMobi has played a part in the germination of the mobile web. Whatever you think of flowers.mobi, I think the company can claim its original mission more or less accomplished.

[Anti-disclaimer: I have no continuing interest in the company whatsoever ]