Is .mobi the future of cellphone websites?

[Warrior]

mobi is on the rise....

Are you suggesting mobi use is on the rise?, I find that extremely hard to believe.

can i register a mobi with a hyphen?

Dude, why would you want to include a hyphen? that's at least two added keystrokes on a cell phone.

[ecomindia]

yes, agree wes.. "-" is equal to 2 strokes !!
hmmm//

[Gerry]

The thing that is failed to be mentioned, once the web address is entered, it is saved, am I correct?

At least it is on my phone. I don't mind putting in a URL that first time knowing that all I have to do is simply scroll to it and hit enter the next time I want to visit it.

Besides, with all the damn text messaging going on, why make a big deal about two added keystrokes.

Not much of a case.

[bigboydog_0]

the thing that is failed to be mentioned, once the web address is entered, it is saved, am i correct?

At least it is on my phone. I don't mind putting in a url that first time knowing that all i have to do is simply scroll to it and hit enter the next time i want to visit it.

Besides, with all the damn text messaging going on, why make a big deal about two added keystrokes.

Not much of a case.

totally right doc i habe a iphone and i browse the internet and the mobi sites blow away the dot com sites by 1000% when you type mobi you dont have to make any adjustments.

[ecomindia]

yes, in most of the phones! atleast in my nokia, samsung, palm, it does ...
agree, if it happens with most of the mobiles (saving URL), then it should be ok

i will go ahead and register my first .mobi domain. nice thought doccom

[KaneCo]

totally right doc i habe a iphone and i browse the internet and the mobi sites blow away the dot com sites by 1000% when you type mobi you dont have to make any adjustments.

If you use a Iphone you should never look for .mobi sites..it defies the purpose of the phone. Why visit a lite version of a site when you could visit a full web version of the site. The Iphone is built for a real browsing experience that is why I own it, if I want to visit a mobile version of a site I will use my blackberry which I also carry. I do not understand how you dot mobi experience is intensified with a Iphone Please explain, what websites you enjoy visiting on your Iphone?

On a second note I am not downing .mobi as there are some good sites but is not something built for the iphone.

[ecomindia]

John
You might be right in terms of "User Experience".
But you might be focussing US , but in most EU and Asian countries, connectivity is a major hurdle that makes these smart phone sales too a little lower side (in context to internet browsin).

so, text based and low size websites works better! so mobi is dfefinitely a strong contender PLUS mobi understanding is great for users to let them know the site is mobile version of the main site.

[ksinclair]

Mobile tech is moving very quickly. The Apple iTablet is an example of where things might be going. All the tablets will evolve into full featured devices and .com will dominate as usual.

It all depends on what level you want to participate. If you want to sell .mobi for $xxx then yes, there is a market. Its a question of scale.

[Gerry]

On a second note I am not downing .mobi as there are some good sites but is not something built for the iphone.

Ahh, this would be a valuable statement if everyone owned, carried, used, and had an iPhone.

So, sites built to comply with dot mobi standards work on EVERY mobile phone and EVERY PC or Laptop.

An example would be iCPR dot mobi. Here is a mobile site built to dot mobi standards and what you see you will get on ANY mobile device, PC, Laptop, or netbook. No trickery or browser detection needed.

Look at FoxNews.com on your iPhone and look at FoxNEWS.mobi on your iPhone. Which looks best? Which works best?

Do the same test on your crackberry.

There is a reason, a purpose, and a need for both a PC compatible site and a mobile compatible site.

As for the waterdowned or striped down argument - do you want every single ad that appears on FoxNews.com to appear on you mobile device? You want to wade through ad after ad after ad to get to the content you are looking for? Well neither does the consumer -especially on a small screne. It makes no sense to force the consumer to dot this. And they won't. It is a major turn off and a traffic loser. If the consumer does not find what they are looking for in the first few seconds, you have lost them.

I would suggest every one read Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. This is such an invaluable guide for anyone who writes content, creates sites, and want's to capture a visitor and keep them there.

[ecomindia]

well said doccom. it has made some concept clear in my mind....
as i am in asian country, speed and technology is little behind and even if the new technoigies are there, the user base to support it is low making the co's do it off late !

[Warrior]

Besides, with all the damn text messaging going on, why make a big deal about two added keystrokes.

Not much of a case.

First of all, nobody is making a "big deal" about it accept for you, I asked a simple question, That is; why would anyone register a domain that added 2 more keystrokes, the shift key and the hyphen key, when they can easily choose a non hyphenated domain? It's not like all the good mobi's are taken.

[Gerry]

First of all, nobody is making a "big deal" about it accept for you, I asked a simple question, That is; why would anyone register a domain that added 2 more keystrokes, the shift key and the hyphen key, when they can easily choose a non hyphenated domain? It's not like all the good mobi's are taken.

Sorry you took it personal.

It was meant to be a generalized statement to reflect that no one seems to mind two additional keystrokes with the amount of texting already going on.

[KaneCo]

Ahh, this would be a valuable statement if everyone owned, carried, used, and had an iPhone.

I was really just responding to his statement that the .mobi sites were the majority of the sites he visited on his iphone and they blow away the .coms and he is selling a bunch of .mobis. Just makes no sense! Although not everyone has one they did sell a lot of Iphones.....

Look at FoxNews.com on your iPhone and look at FoxNEWS.mobi on your iPhone. Which looks best? Which works best?

Do the same test on your crackberry.

There is a reason, a purpose, and a need for both a PC compatible site and a mobile compatible site.

As for the waterdowned or striped down argument - do you want every single ad that appears on FoxNews.com to appear on you mobile device? You want to wade through ad after ad after ad to get to the content you are looking for? Well neither does the consumer -especially on a small screne. It makes no sense to force the consumer to dot this. And they won't. It is a major turn off and a traffic loser. If the consumer does not find what they are looking for in the first few seconds, you have lost them.

Actually foxnews.com redirects to iphone.foxnews.com which yes does look better then their .mobi site. So in essence there are multiple screens you need to make your sites viewable on. I get a lot of traffic on some of my sites from the wii browser. The fox news people are champions of the .mobi and promote everyday all day. I am just arguing that they have a understanding that the Iphone is different then a normal phone. People actually buy the iphone to get the experience just like their computer, they look at cnn.com and they say why does that not look like the one on my computer?

As far as US vs whatever I am just talking about the iphone in relations to .mobi in the US etc.

[Gerry]

So in essence there are multiple screens you need to make your sites viewable on.

I would venture to say that, with all the rage of the iPhone, the marketers decided to market to the iPhone crowd by making a site that is iPhone specific. A good strategy for Fox.

But then what?

gPhone.foxnews.com?
android.foxnews.com?
blackberry.foxnews.com?
PalmPre.foxnews.com?

making a site specific to a device is not the answer.

A dot mobi specific and dot mobi compliant site eliminates the need to make multiple sites for multiple screens. That is what the dot mobi is about.

Take a look at these two sites on your PC, laptop, iPhone, blackberry...

iCPR dot mobi
mCDC dot mobi

They are going to look the same on any device anywhere in the world.

These are ad free sites that deal with health content only.

No magic or hocus pocus to it.

So instead of creating one site per device, here is one site (a mobile) that works on every device.

[KaneCo]

why should the programmers of .mobi sites be restricted to laziness? When you build a site in another tld you:

1:Adjust the css for various browsers i.e. safari, ie6, firefox, ie8 parameters have to be put in for each various browser to make the user experience the same on every browser.

2:Adjust the background image so it looks good on 15 inch monitor and a 24inch wide-screen.

3: You also adjust ads by locale, browser etc.

With as you suggest .mobi do is make a basic+ site and its the same on every screen. They should do the same thing so the site takes full advantage of all browsers or mobile phones. I agree your sites do all look the same across all fronts but why your neglecting the user. In your books words your are making me think. If I stumble across your site in a normal browser I would make fun of it (okay only if I was a regualr person not some one who knows what .mobi is.)

[Gerry]

why should the programmers of .mobi sites be restricted to laziness? When you build a site in another tld you:

1:Adjust the css for various browsers i.e. safari, ie6, firefox, ie8 parameters have to be put in for each various browser to make the user experience the same on every browser.

2:Adjust the background image so it looks good on 15 inch monitor and a 24inch wide-screen.

3: You also adjust ads by locale, browser etc.

With as you suggest .mobi do is make a basic+ site and its the same on every screen. They should do the same thing so the site takes full advantage of all browsers or mobile phones. I agree your sites do all look the same across all fronts but why your neglecting the user. In your books words your are making me think. If I stumble across your site in a normal browser I would make fun of it (okay only if I was a regualr person not some one who knows what .mobi is.)

Again, read the book Don't Make Me Think.

Many points that you make are no longer valid.


Those two sites referenced are made by a non-technical programmer and with Joomla template.

Another to look at is Lyme dot mobi. Again, this is what is going to appear on every device. Made by someone else, this is another ad-free site for people to get information on Lyme disease.

There is nothing lazy about these site. It is all content and nothing but relevant content. I chose them because there are no ads on it. You need a quick reference for doing CPR on someone and you have to scroll through RingTone Banners???

What you equate to laziness is fiscal sense to many. As you pointed out, iphone.foxnews.com vs. foxnews.mobi. So, make a site for a specific product each and everytime a new product hits the market?

Plus, what market share does iPhone own? 17%??? If iphone users are using iPhone.foxnews.com, how many others people are not going to use such a site - the other 83% of your market.

So, what you call laziness is what many are going to term fiscal responsible by creating FoxNews.mobi for the other 87% of the market. Inside that programming genius is the ability to detect the device someone is on. That is why anyone anywhere can use FoxNews.mobi - even you right now on your PC.

How does it look? Well, bare. But what you don't have is all the "noise" of the ads flashing, scrolling, playing, and shouting for your attention. What you have is what you were looking for - news. There is nothing lazy about this site. The marketers and creators at FoxNews probably have a cell phone or two among themselves and asked - what do I not want on a 2 x 3 screen?

If you or anyone else misses all the ads and want to keep scrolling and scrolling through page after page of content on your iPhone then by all means - use a full PC site on your iPhone in order to satisfy yourself. I am not sure what they call "scrolling" with all the iPhone swiping and forward and backward and finger opening and repositioning. It is a form of scrolling.

I do not own the iPhone. I have the Helio Ocean which I love. I do now have two iPhone Touch. I love them. But I surely do not enjoy trying to find what I am looking for on a full PC site. Once that novelty wears off of doing it a few times, then its time to get to the meat of sites.


You can make fun of the site, I won't be offended. As long as you did look at each site on the PC, on the Laptop, on the Blackberry, and iPhone that you own.

All of these points have played out over and over for the past three years. Disdain for the dot mobi extension was expressed on this very forum as early as 2004.

Point is, it is here, it is still here, and it is not going anywhere. With the 400-500 extensions about to come out, I wonder how people will know a site is mobile or not? Sure, we can talk about all the technology and auto detect and how it is going to render all of that mobile stuff useless.

But there is one problem to that argument - the internet is not going to wait for technology to catch up with it. We are getting ready to see a very crowded and chaotic way of getting on the internet. The release of the new TLD's is not waiting for the technology mentioned. Yes, some of it is here now. It is a pretty crazy time and next spring and fall of 2010 is going to be a big shock to most internet users.

[talas]

When .mobi mobile sites are popular, You question is answered.

[Dale Hubbard]

Well, I have been a detractor of the extension for years, but suddenly there's interest on one of my very few .mobi domains with an offer on sedo. Mind you, it's very specific and relates to 'car keys' -- I see the Japanese are about to launch cell phone technology that allows you to open a car door, start a car, lock a car, open a window, set the aircon, unlock the boot or the bonnet (trunk and hood) -- in fact do everything but drive it. Now that's what I would call a great use for .mobi -- i.e. technology that is specific to mobile phones, not necessarily just content.

[Gerry]

Well, I have been a detractor of the extension for years, but suddenly there's interest on one of my very few .mobi domains with an offer on sedo. Mind you, it's very specific and relates to 'car keys' -- I see the Japanese are about to launch cell phone technology that allows you to open a car door, start a car, lock a car, open a window, set the aircon, unlock the boot or the bonnet (trunk and hood) -- in fact do everything but drive it. Now that's what I would call a great use for .mobi -- i.e. technology that is specific to mobile phones, not necessarily just content.

I recently had a large .mobi sale. I am waiting to see the DNS change to see if it is what I think it is. It may also be auto related

You bring up some very valid points, not just for technology's sake but also for content, purpose and meaning.

We all know that the auto industry is trying to "re-invent" itself. Mercedes, Volvo, and BMW have been very successful with .mobi sites. Perhaps marketers are also waking up to the fact that their audience is not sitting still and not chained to a PC. The emphasis today is on business and that business going to the consumer. That consumer is mobile. And perhaps, just perhaps, that mobile consumer may represent a market for the .mobi - it is not just for mobile phones - taking the word mobile to reflect it's true definition.

The big, big, big advantage of .mobi is it is already defined and branded. This is a great example of the extension being the brand and the brand being the extension. In this case, it just simply "fits" the idea, the market, and the consumer.

Glad to see you looking at this with eyes wide open, Dale..."technology that is specific to mobile phones, not necessarily just content."

[ChineseDomain]

Mobile site is necessary no matter you use iphone or any other smartphones.


I am very glad that Dnf has mobile site. really glad. I visit dnf very few because it has no mobile site in recent two years.

also, i have about $13,000 .mobi sells in rear 2009, including one $7,xxx.

good luck to all in year 2010