Domain Registration Related News
.mobi Maybe, Maybe Not
July 2005
The dot-com story adds a new chapter with .mobi. The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently approved
the .mobi top level domain for the use as a designator of content
specifically for mobile devices.
We all know that viewing some Websites using wireless devices can be
hard to navigate and not very well rendered for the small screen. The
idea of creating this secondary Internet or sub-Web of sites
specifically designed for wireless devices with limited screen
resolutions and navigation limitations is superficial and completely
unnecessary.
First, it is safe to say that the majority of wireless users
have an awareness of their service providers and possibly their
handset makers. Beyond that, there's limited market
awareness of companies that offer specific mobile Internet services.
Are we going to ask subscribers to begin suddenly to make that
distinction when they browse with their wireless devices?
Second, the percentage of mobile phone users who browse the Internet
has barely risen above the double-digit level and the majority of
those are represented in Asia. You might argue that the .mobi
designation would increase that penetration. Rather than hundreds of
companies designing and designating a parallel wireless Internet
universe, in the very near term, software developers
will figure out a way to help regular Websites be viewed comfortably
on the smaller screens of wireless devices.
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