May 9th, 2008
Mowser purchased by dotMobi; is there a need for a .mobi domain?
A couple of weeks ago, Russell Beattie announced that Mowser was at the end of its life. His post took on a life of its own into a discussion of the mobile web and approaches to the internet on mobile devices. I heard today that Mowser will continue to live on as the service has been purchased by dotMobi. You can check out the press release for details. I’m glad that things worked out for Russell and wish him all the best in the future.
Even though I browse all the time on my mobile devices, I have to admit I have never visited a site with the .mobi internet domain extension and am not sold on its usefulness. I understand that by visiting a site with a .mobi domain people are assured that the site will be optimized for their mobile device. However, most every site I visit as a mobile enthusiast already has a mobile-optimized version at their standard URL or maybe even at their m.xxx.com URL and there doesn’t appear to be a real need for .mobi. With the iPhone’s Safari browser, S60 browser, Opera Mini, and more web browsers out there handling standard websites that may not have optimized pages, I think the real innovation in the mobile space is the browser more than the website itself. I do prefer to visit sites that are optimized and tons of sites have even optimized for the iPhone to take advantage of the full power of the device’s browser.
Do you visit .mobi sites? Is there a need for a mobile-specific domain such as .mobi?
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
| 05/10/08
