Is there a point to a .MOBI domain?
Normally, TLDs aren't used to indicate specific protocols or types of Internet services; rather, the TLD taxonomy indicates types of entities and institutions (commercial, governmental, museums, etc.). The proper place in the domain name system for indications of service type is in the hostname within a domain; hence, there are conventions like WWW.[domain] for a Web server, FTP.[domain] for an FTP server, MAIL.[domain] for an e-mail server, NEWS.[domain] for a news (Usenet) server, etc. It's fairly common to use WAP.[domain] for a WAP-enabled mobile site, and such conventions should be encouraged. The concept that "normal" domains like EXAMPLE.COM somehow intrinsically refer to Web sites intended for use on graphical browsers running on stationary desktop computers, and that hence a different TLD is necessary or desirable for any other uses not fitting in this category, is a highly mistaken one. Actually, the DNS, and its original seven gTLDs, date back to before the Web even existed, at a time when most network hosts were mainframe computers at academic institutions. Hence, they are not specific to particular types of machine or service. The mobile industry should be encouraged to adopt standard hostnames for the various sorts of services and protocols they wish to use; "WAP" is one, and others can follow. Then, anybody wishing to participate can set up such hostnames in their existing domains with no further domain registrations needed. This would be better for everybody concerned, other than the registries, registrars, sponsoring organization, speculators, cybersquatters, and dispute resolution providers who would, of course, stand to profit from the addition of a new TLD, whether useful or not. -- == Dan == Dan's Mail Format Site: http://mailformat.dan.info/ Dan's Web Tips: http://webtips.dan.info/ Dan's Domain Site: http://domains.dan.info/ |