Various publications covered the introduction of .mobi as a Top Level Domain (TLD). Basically, everyone who has a website in .com, .net, .org or one of the other TLDs is being encouraged to think about .mobi for their mobile content. (Details in the CNET News.com article about “dot-mobi”.)
Let me come right out and say it: .mobi won’t change anything about mobile use of the web. Not a thing.
I helped deliver a mobile version of CNET News.com (http://m.news.com/) in April 2004. Back in 1999, I led development of a true WAP 1.0 version of Snap.com (the old one, not the new/current search engine), so I’ve been using the mobile internet intermittently for more than seven years. So, I have some experience with the area.
Let me say again: the problem is not the domain.
The limits are bandwidth, display, and the limited use cases.
Bandwidth: In the United States (at least) mobile data rates are not yet consistently speedy. I’m on Cingular with my Treo, and it’s tolerable to use sites formatted for mobile (read: small data loads, and focused pages). Not fun, but tolerable. I’m sure EVDO is a step up, but we’re still in the dial-up days when it comes to mobile browsing. But when dial-up was a reality for the majority of the people online, few users really knew that they were missing. Now, most everyone knows what the web (and e-mail) should deliver, based on their computer experience, with DSL/cable/Wi-Fi/LAN connectivity. The alternative is almost excruciating.
Display: The smaller display isn’t a crisis. It’s just not as much fun. My Treo 650’s display is quite sharp, but the device still fits in my pocket, so it’s not that large.
Limited use cases: The use case for mobile browsing is slices of time. It always has been. Maybe it won’t always be, but I’m not convinced otherwise. When you’re killing time, waiting, commuting, or otherwise between activities and (not coincidentally) between larger display, higher bandwidth devices, then mobile browsing helps avoid boredom and/or help busy people steal moments. But it’s not planned time, with the possible exception of commuting.
Browsing the web on a mobile device is worthwhile for certain pieces of data (phone numbers, directions, answering trivia questions), but you don’t actively choose to experience the internet this way if you have an alternative.
One more strike (yes, that’s four) against the .mobi domain: the mTLD group is promising to maintain standards (see the Guide). I can’t find details, but the general ethos seemed to be that certain usability guidelines would be enforced.
We have also developed rules and recommended best practices for developers to keep the mobile surfing experience consistent. [Vance Hedderel, a spokesman for dot-mobi and mTLD, speaking to CNET News.com]
Sounds like a walled garden to me, and hard to scale for growth. Who’s going to approve each website?
I, too, want connectivity everywhere, and high-speed connectivity at that. But .mobi is a solution for a different problem: the lack of “control” some media companies, carriers, and handset providers want to rein in for their benefit. I don’t think you can put that genie back in the bottle.
Is it just a coincidence that the .xxx domain proposal recently went down in flames? (See a list of recent domain name stories at CNET News.com.) And the adult industry cheered? Hasn’t the adult industry led various other technological innovations?
Mobile browsing will continue to grow, in spite of — not because of — the .mobi domain.