Today’s .me domain registration was very interesting. The process was definitely a bit FUBARed by the registrars as they allowed people to register domains that were already taken, but the fact that they did lead to a rather interesting side effect: creativity.
I watched with interest as people I knew tried out interesting combinations of domains, found cool ones then tried to think of uses for them, etc. It was very different than the normal .com domain hunt.
I don’t know if .me will take off - it’s certainly an interesting TLD, but the .com seems stronger than ever. Even the iPhone, the very model of a modern device, only has a “.com” button1. Is .me any better than .info (except maybe for personal domains)?
I picked up a couple of .me domains that I thought could be useful down the road if .me becomes widely adopted. I’m not sure if I’ll actually use them - I’m tending more towards “.com at all costs” these days - which is pretty sad.
Time will tell if a good .me is worth more than a mediocre .com.
- Which is, quite frankly, shameful. [back]
Popularity: 14% [?]
Justin adds this Comment:
Press and hold the .com button on the iPhone keyboard and it pops up .com, .net, .org and .edu.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Whoa, that must have been added in the software upgrade - I’m pretty certain that wasn’t there in the initial launch.
July 18th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Devin Reams adds this Comment:
Yeah it was definitely added.
So, with .com at all costs when will you be migating to alexking.com?
July 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Alex adds this Comment:
A personal site and a business site or service are two different beasts.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Keith Gaughan adds this Comment:
There’s actually a really good reason why the registrar allowed though so many registrations for already-registered domains: domain availability checking for .me–both though their EPP interface through whois–fell over. I don’t think they really expected the level of interest they got!
July 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Yes, I was watching it happen on all of the registrars - not blaming any one in particular. It was kind of a cool, if fleeting, experience to think you could register so many interesting domains.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Kedric adds this Comment:
Personally I tend to agree with you that .com names will hold their popularity for a very long time, although I kinda wish that that wasn’t the case. It will be interesting to see the internet 10 yrs down the road.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm