Edwin said:
I think CCTLDs are going to be the story of the next year or so.
I have to agree with win if you look at this issue from a developer's vantage point. The world is a big big place although the Internet makes it seem it is not. You can be a shrimp in an ocean, or a koi in a garden pool. Businesses are starting to understand they can't "rule the world" in this ultimately competitive, outsourcing age, but can sure as hell try to dominate their own back-yard. "Cruises".ch may have cost $18k, but a couple of local market signups for the round-the-world experience package will easily cover that cost off.
What will cruises.com cost? God knows...
In globalization, there is always surfer comfort in localization. Google long realised that a long time ago and the local targeting gears are already entrenched into their business model. I went to a few .de sites in the past month and I can empathise why it feels great to have a web-site welcome you in your native language.
The world does not revolve around English.
It will be interesting to see how .EU sites are developed in the coming years as multilingual platforms.
Catch-all .COM may have lead the Web as we know it, but localized search and local identity/accessibility will be the next story that ends dependence on that one .extension forever as the Internet continues its unabated evolution imho.
The Internet field of flowers is sprouting as more people around the world join in. Only this time, that field will be defined in many colors. ICANN saw to that, the many varied citizens of this world will see to that.