Can dotMobi break the stranglehold of the wireless Telcos?

[HipHop.mobi]

old article from 2006



Can dotMobi break the stranglehold of the wireless Telcos?

(http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2006/12/can_dotmobi_bre.php) By Tom Foremski for Silicon Valley Watcher (http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/)
Accessing the Internet from cell phones is possible but the experience is poor. Mobile web browser performance is clunky, few web sites are designed for cell phone access, and the customer bill can be astronomical.
I recently spoke with Alexa Raad, who heads up marketing and business development at dotMobi (http://dotmobi.com/), a startup whose mission is to make the mobile Internet an everyday reality instead of an expensive curiosity. A key part of its strategy is establishing the domain name extension .mobi to designate web sites that support mobile browsers.
But why should businesses buy a .mobi extension when their web servers already detect the type of browser and can be set up to automatically serve up a mobile version of a web page?
"The extension tells users that the web site supports mobile browsers and conforms to standards that guarantee a fast download and probably has low access costs," says Ms Raad. "Some web pages can cost users as much as $10 to download because they aren't designed for mobile devices or the developers aren't aware of the costs."
The operators of .mobi web sites agree to abide by three mandatory rules: no use of frames on the web sites because these are difficult to render by mobile web browsers; no use of the www prefix in the name of the web site; use of XML in creating web sites. If these rules aren't met, dotMobi has the right to revoke the use of the .mobi extension.
These are very easy conditions to meet, and most regular web sites would already be compliant anyway, because these are best practices for any kind of site. This doesn't mean they would be mobile-friendly.
To produce web sites that load fast on mobile devices, and won't cost users a fortune in data costs, takes much more effort. That's why dotMobi has created free development packages and support forums for developers to cut the cost of creating .mobi sites. Tools include ways to calculate the cost of downloading a web page depending upon the data package of the wireless carrier.
The company is funded by Nokia, Microsoft, Vodafone and other strategic investors. The money is used to create the development tools, plus there is revenue from registering .mobi and common extensions.
"We want to make sure that the user experience with .mobi sites is good. We don't want a few bad apples spoiling the neighborhood, that's why we will cancel registrations if web site owners don't abide by mandatory rules," says Ms Raad.
But the biggest obstacle to the realization of dotMobi's mission are the wireless carriers. They have stuck customers with hundreds of dollars in charges because of complex Internet data packages. Combined with the poor performance of mobile browsers, many early users of the mobile Internet have already been turned off from the experience.
Ms Raad is very much aware of this issue, but hopes that the wireless carriers will come up with inexpensive Internet access packages. "Europe is much further ahead in this area than we are in the US, so I'm hoping that things will change," she says. She adds that wireless carriers are among investors in dotMobi.

Foremski's Take: The wireless carriers aren't going to give up their lucrative gateway position. They make a fortune standing between the mobile Internet and the consumer.
Even if tens of thousands of high quality .mobi web sites spring up, that won't mean much because the wireless carriers can easily substitute their online services, or those of partners.
They won't need to block .mobi sites but they can make them a click or three further away. And on the cramped user interface of mobile devices, that's like sending .mobi sites to Siberia.
There are also other obstacles created by the wireless carriers. A senior executive from a startup mobile search firm told me that video services from major wireless carriers hog much of available wireless data bandwidth, cutting off even the partners of wireless carriers.
The promises of the mobile Internet, at least in the US, won't arrive until there are ways of getting around the wireless carriers. Technologies such as WiMAX, which offers high speed wireless data across large distances, could get around the gateway stranglehold.
Intel (an SVW sponsor) is working on making WiMAX capabilities standard in notebook computers, and others are working on the WiMAX infrastructure. But it will be several years before WiMAX based services are widely available.
In short, the mobile Internet will be a long time coming, blocked by the greed of wireless carriers. These companies are rapidly becoming the largest obstacle to technological progress and the development of Internet economies, IMHO.
- - -

[mediaadvantages]

dotMobi (http://dotmobi.com/), a startup whose mission is to make the mobile Internet an everyday reality instead of an expensive curiosity.


Very interesting comment. If making the mobile internet an everyday realizty is the mission or even was the mission of of dotMobi than

1) The mobile internet doesn't need dotMobi to be successful
2) This company will fail because of not having goals that include .mobi as the norm for viewing the internet. (I'm not so sure if this is even a gaol anymore at all - When was the last time you heard dotMobi say that their goal was to make .mobi the norm for viewing content on the mobile internet?)
3. I was duped after being led to believe the "backers" of .mobi had one main goal. Which is making .mobi the norm for viewing content on mobile phones.

[newdomainer]

I understand your concerns & sympathise with much of what you say but I will add a few notes;


dotMobi (http://dotmobi.com/), a startup whose mission is to make the mobile Internet an everyday reality instead of an expensive curiosity.


Very interesting comment. If making the mobile internet an everyday realizty is the mission or even was the mission of of dotMobi than

1) The mobile internet doesn't need dotMobi to be successful

Dotmobi doesn't need to be THE mobile internet to be successful, if dotmobi became the 'standard' it would be way beyond 'successful' IMHO it will become successful regardless, but adoption rates will determine the degree to which it succeeds.

2) This company will fail because of not having goals that include .mobi as the norm for viewing the internet. (I'm not so sure if this is even a gaol anymore at all - When was the last time you heard dotMobi say that their goal was to make .mobi the norm for viewing content on the mobile internet?)

Dotmobi is a player in the mobile web market regardless of the extent of market penetration; it has a good few $million to sustain itself (although I agree that it doesn't go far these days).
To fail, the world would have to ignore the extension completely & it is screen size that will do it in the end; small screen apps (iphone apps) will drive the extension - therefore apps that suit small screen use are where to focus.. Dotmobi couldn't possibly achieve full market penetration; even Microsoft & Google with their $10's of BILLIONS are realising that it's not easy... & Microsoft could buy mTLD with 1 days revenue!

3. I was duped after being led to believe the "backers" of .mobi had one main goal. Which is making .mobi the norm for viewing content on mobile phones.

I think 'duped' may be a little strong but yes, I have to agree that one of the reasons I was as excited at the prospects for dotmobi was the impressive array of backers; however, I am glad I was 'duped' because it may have been the tipping point which gave me the confidence to invest in dotmobi when I might otherwise not have? I am disappointed that the backers haven't really played a strong hand but there are huge market forces at work & vested interests across the board so I understand why they are being cagey.. There is still no reason why dotmobi won't become the TLD of choice for the mobile applications of the future..

[mediaadvantages]

To fail, the world would have to ignore the extension completely & it is screen size that will do it in the end; small screen apps (iphone apps) will drive the extension - therefore apps that suit small screen use are where to focus.. Dotmobi couldn't possibly achieve full market penetration; even Microsoft & Google with their $10's of BILLIONS are realising that it's not easy... & Microsoft could buy mTLD with 1 days revenue

99% of the world has ignored the extention. you say that couldn't possibly achieve full market penetration. i believe myspace and facebook have done an amazing job and didn't spend millions doing it. there are many ways besides spending money that you can market. if you read Meatball Sundae you will understand what i'm talking about.

[coast]

I strongly believe that we shouldn't wait for a dotmobi fairy godmother to come in and do our marketing for us because I don't think that will happen. I do hold out hope, however, for dotmobi registry's plan to make a marketing forum that does for marketers what dev.mobi does for developers. That could be a tool that brings us closer to the tipping point in a positive direction.

[Gerry]

Interesting comments one and all.

From a skeptical point of view (yes, I was a skeptic) I knew little to nothing about mTLD. Actually, nothing would be more like it.

What I did know was my own research and analysis told me that the mobile internet was about to happen in a big way.

And I knew that .mobi was the way to go. Nothing said or says, to this day, that "this is mobile" better than .mobi.

Even when conducting my own analysis, not once did it ever dawn on me to find out who, what, where was backing this, what their plan was for promoting, etc.

It just made sense.

It still makes sense.

What does not make sense are the countless ways other sites, domainers, ad agencies want to try to convince someone to access the mobile internet.

And it still does not make sense.

And mobi still makes sense.

I really don't know what people are expecting and waiting on. Especially here in the US. The old adage "We've always done it this way around here", makes me scream, cuss, spit, and throw things.

Everything is coming slower to the US market and marketing gurus. I don't give two hoots if we're talking the healthcare system, business, banking, social security...if you ask a question of, "why are things done this way?" and the answer is "We've always done it this way around here"...take your business elsewhere.

Same with the internet.

If people want to continue to access the internet "the way they have always done it" using the same domain extension that they have been using along using countless of thousands of prefixes and suffixes they can create, then so be it.

But take you business elsewhere.

For those feeling mTLD owes them something or perhaps feeling duped or mislead or misguided, I don't know what to say.

But I will say this...

just as much as I have felt what a monumental waste of time it has been for me fighting battles against the antagonists on other forums, I will not waste my time defending mTLD on this forum.

We all made a decision to be invested in .mobi in one form or another for one reason or another.

My decision was and is simple...I believe in it. It all makes sense.

I will no longer justify my decision to anyone nor will I attempt to sway anyone to see things as I see them.

I simply do not have the time nor the patience to attempt to rationalize decisions made by others.

For those that are now thinking they made a mistake, perhaps you did. Perhaps expectations were set too high by one's own personal vision and perhaps that vision was influenced by other member or other external forces.

I am ready to take this to the next level.

The next level does not include me trying to talk people out of staying with this or leaving it all behind.

[DomainTalker]

Real life .mobi story of today...


I was in a tech store, buying a new laptop. I was served by the manager of the store - about 26, and very tech savvy (PC's & Laptops & accessories).


He mentioned he has a Smartphone - online all the time (3G capped plan - good plan, actually) - does a lot of his day-to-day stuff on his phone, on the go...including ALL his banking transactions....He is happy scrolling around 'mobilized' m.computer.com/mobile sites, cos he didn't know of any alternative.....He has no fixed line phone at home - He's a classic profile of the guy we want using .mobi...


...Wait...You guessed it....He'd never heard of .mobi.


I asked him which bank he used. He said ANZ Bank (one of the Big Four banks in Australia - $360 Billion in assets). He'd been logging into his accounts at ANZ Bank via their .com.au site...


...Now, it so happens, ANZ Bank launched its ANZ.mobi on Feb 16 this year...

Yes....He'd never heard that ANZ Bank had a .mobi site, either.


So, right there in the shop, I said 'Get your mobile phone and login to ANZ.mobi...'...He did....And, guess what? He LOVED it....!!!....Suddenly he could access all he needed without scrolling around....It resolved beautifully on his Smartphone - soooo much easier for him to do his banking.....Oh, btw, he loved Camera.mobi, too....:D


So, there it is, in a nutshell:

If people know about .mobi, they'll use it, and love it...

But, .mobi's the best kept secret on the internet (for normal mobile users).


If we got the word out to the youth market, eg, about the 'What's' & 'Why's' of .mobi....they will come....They will love it....They will use the .mobi sites that are there....They will do more in 3 weeks to spread the word about .mobi around the globe through Facebook, myspace & YouTube, and thousands of blogs, etc than we can do in 3 years....They will build .mobi sites in their thousands....And, quickly....They will bring their minds to the technology......It will all explode.


Who should do this awareness & marketing?


Every single one of us, of course ....But also including mTLD.....We all have the same vested interest in ensuring that .mobi doesn't become the best mobile technology ever invented - that isn't used...

Its not a fairy godmother in dotmobi, we need, coast....Its the direct application of EVERY resource available - urgently, imo - to grab the mobile high ground for .mobi, instead of letting m.computer/mobile take hold...


PS - I've written today to ANZ Bank, suggesting they do a major awareness marketing campaign to promote their .mobi site to banking consumers.

.

[domainitrix]

Repped for your efforts DT.
I did that with Sean's Boroughs.mobi @ Circuitcity Verizon sales guy last month. I was looking at Blackberry models and see what kinda deal I can get and he asked me what I wanted to do with it so I said mainly surf mobile web-- he looked at me and said " why don't you get a laptop instead? So I told the guy that I don't like lugging heavy things around & besides with .mobi sites ( and showed him Boroughs.mobi as an example on the Blackberry that I was playing with) why do I want to get a laptop? He said he never heard of .mobi before but agreed its something he would try surfing.

And several months or so ago, while at the Apple store( in Costa Mesa,CA), I also showed Boroughs.mobi on iphone to the Apple store sales woman. She had no idea what .mobi was, I showed her how fast the .mobi site resolves on iphone & site hopped to Shows.mobi and back; she agreed that they resolved fast! Infact,in the past, whenever I did go to the Apple store, I type in Boroughs or Shows .mobi on itouch & iphone models that I play with on sales models and leave it that way before I walk out of the store. In hope that another customer can come behind me and see these .mobi sites.:biggrin:

[gogo]

The thing is now these people have seen a site that's made for a phone... probably not the first one they've seen... but they needed to be told that the way to GUARANTEE that experience is to use mobi.

In other words, people could stumble across various mobi sites and bookmark them without ever realising that ALL mobi sites are ideal for phones.

So someone's got to tell them.