.mobi's Vision For the Future

[jaybee]

I've had a vision. We need to think of .mobi as the Apple of the domain world. Mobi is almost down and out after a promising initial start. The management is rather lacklustre and has no real imagination or innovation. Their ideas seem stuck in the past when we need to be looking to the future.

The main competition for mobi is APPS, not m.com, or other domains. Or another way to look at it, apps should be our competition, our main focus. That's because .mobi can do almost everything that an app can do, or will be able to do in the future, and apps are booming with no sign of slowing down, yet!

We need to think big. We shouldn't be wasting our efforts trying to compete with e.g. .tel (i.e. the goMobi template system), or oldskool wap-type sites (i.e. m.com) that have already failed to catch on, in a big way, like e.g. apps have.

We need to step up and position ourselves as the future of the mobile internet, the mobile web app world. Make it very clear who we are and where we are going. Forget the past and look to the future.

My idea is to start with a HTML5 competition, submitted only on a .mobi domain.
Spend big on promotions (one idea was to get Stephen Fry to host it with a YouTube video).

Create an AppStore type website/mobile site to display all of the entries. Which will become the future place to find .mobi sites (i.e. HTML5 web apps). dotMobi will make efforts to keep the site updated for the highest quality of user experience (which is what .mobi stands for after all isn't it?).

Create an educational video site (in the style of e.g. macProVideo.com, Lynda.com) with classes of how to make a HTML5 mobile web app, from beginner to expert (etc.).

Winners will be picked by the dotMobi team, representatives of the original backers such as Google Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia etc., the host (e.g. Stephen Fry), and/or if a secure enough system can be put in place then the public can vote for their favourite. Maybe the competition idea could become a monthly theme to gain even more momentum for people to choose to create .mobi sites, rather than apps.

Here are some examples of HTML5 mobile sites http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-g...obile-websites

So that's my vision. If anyone else would like to add to, or share their own vision, that would be great.

[ChinaMobi]

Thanks for the sharing, jaybee.

In the long term, I believe web apps will take over native apps to become the mainstream. The reason is -- web apps requires no significant work by the users. Users prefer simplicity and would avoid the tasks of downloading, installing, troubleshooting when install fails, and regular updates.

Maybe what we need is Juan Calle of .co to do a relaunch of .mobi with very a aggressive marketing campaign.

[coast]

Some of you know that I've surfed a time or two. I'm talking ocean surfing. The key to surfing is to see a tiny bump further out to sea, and know that it's going to turn into a ride-able wave.

I see the bump. It's not coming from the registry nor the original backers.

Keep building. You can't push the ocean to make waves, but you can recognize them and be in the right position when they crest.

[jaybee]

Thanks for participating guys!

Some more thoughts before I go to sleep...

For the initial launch I would have a big cash prize ($xx,xxx) but here's a thought, in the future dotMobi could give some of those elusive premium domains away, i.e. create a great site, win a great domain!

Google isn't ideal for finding mobile sites (mobile web apps) because they're mixed together with billions of pc based web pages. dotMobi's appStore-like site would make things a whole lot easier for the consumer and mobi sites could also be found on Google too. Let's give the consumer multiple options! I would expect dotMobi's 'appStore' to be well index in Google and if advertised, we will be promoting all the mobi sites at the same time, which makes the idea of promotion worth that bit extra.

[coast]

Jaybee, I am all for .mobi but to think any official entity would back something like that would have to come from them.

If you want to hold a contest and find your own backers, I'll be happy to enter the contest.

[jaybee]

Hi Coast, I can certainly give it a go... but my thinking was that this would be great (better) coming from dotMobi themselves. I could see the dotMobi logo and for dotMobi to promote it themselves on their sites... maybe even this just being the main dotMobi site/home. I can visualise a lot for the project but it really is a big project to take on! If they were to take it on, I myself would be happy to enter the contests too. It would be fun to compete with others, learning, gaining rewards, all whilst creating the future for the mobile web and .mobi! Currently there isn't really anything exciting coming from/happening around dotMobi. With Apple particularly, I feel that people really enjoy making apps and getting into the AppStore charts, reading user reviews/feedback, etc.

"Find your own backers" - actually I was thinking about something the other night that could work...

I will look into this more... I can see a path of how I could go about this. I have a lot of confidence that with the right people behind the project it could be a success. If anyone is interested in helping getting this out there then PM me. Perhaps if I start the ball rolling then dotMobi will jump on board!

Thanks.

@ChinaMobi completely agree!

[ChinaMobi]

We need more people like you, jaybee.

[think]

We need more people like you, jaybee.

Agree. Would be nice to see Dot Mobi working on these type of campaigns. They could be using some of those premium Mobis that are sitting around as prizes too maybe.

[ChinaMobi]

How about hiring Juan Calle of .co to do a relaunch of .mobi?

[jaybee]

Thanks so much for the support guys!

I'm working on the site & have a first design down already. I think I have figured out a way to avoid a 'famous host' for the competitions (using just voice instead). I haven't thought too much about who the judges will be for the competition(s) but that will come later down the line anyway. Maybe dotMobi can help provide some mobile industry experts or I can hunt some down... Will keep you updated...

I'm rethinking if ALL sites should be HTML5 based. I think the rules could just be that it has to be a mobile web app that works on at least iOS and Android. All the tutorials and web development info that I will try to provide will be about HTML5 tho.

[youmo]

Maybe they should apply this to .mobi:
http://www.domainnews.com/en/afilias...est-sites.html

[coast]

It looks like Adobe is finally going along with HTML5 too, and Flash mobile will be no more: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/exc...-updated/19226

[ChinaMobi]

Yes, better ride the trend than try to stop it.

Another trend is mobile websites overtaking PC sites to becoming the mainstream. I can safely speculate that most companies today are still sticking to the old, PC-centric model in their website development. If I may be a little bit bold, I think using the m dot for mobile version is totally wrong, because that shows PC as the center piece with mobile contents tagged onto it. Over the long term, I think the naming convention will become simpler, for example,

apple.com (for PC)
apple.mobi (for mobile devices)
apple.tv (focus on TV)
apple.xx (forcus on xx) etc.

It conveys a very simple message in advertising, with the name as the focus and not changed. The "www." prefix is redundant and will go away. (These days I do not type the "www." prefix any more)

Sorry for going off the topic.

[jaybee]

Thanks for the link youmo. It's an encouraging sign to see Afilias doing this competition and will be interesting to watch how it plays out. I agree there should be a .mobi competition too.

The panel of judges, followed by a public vote, should work well. For the site I am working on I was going to use the same method, mobile industry experts, followed by a public (members) vote. I think I have found a way to get the best security for the votes too, I will require every member to verify their account on sign up via a SMS verification system. Since every member should be using the site on their mobile phone, I thought this would be ideal. What do you guys think? Would you sign up if the site required you to give a working mobile number for this? I believe YouTube and Facebook require this now. It should also stop spamming, etc. IP addresses would also be closely monitored.

That's big news Coast. I really want to keep the site for just HTML5 mobile web apps! The trouble is, how many are out there (on .mobi too)? Hopefully with the competitions, this would encourage new developers? It may take longer to build up the database but worth it in the long run...