dotmobi Screws The Little Guy!

The dotmobi camp today released General Registration of dotmobi domains amidst a flurry of excitement spurred on by the Landrush Press Event. Exciting times. The promise of increased adoption of mobile terminals as wireless internet browsers, a plethora of mobile internet content options designed specifically for handheld devices, and a couple million net new eyeballs waiting to take a gander at site owners content. Sounds like a positive business proposition ... until you look deeper.

Look under the covers and you will see the desire to build mindshare for a new domain suffix, inequitable domain registration prices, and a flawed underlying premise.

YOU DON'T NEED A .MOBI SUFFIX TO MEET THE NEEDS OF MOBILE USERS!!!

Instead, you need to design for multiples. Design for both desktop and mobile users by employing a CSS-based site with a style sheet defined for mobile handsets, or a hack where you identify browser type by its header and point visitors to a /mobile page that has all your content in simply HTML.

All the dotmobi initiative does in the end is provide a false sense of meeting mobile users needs force domain owners, many of whom which can't afford additional costs without associated revenue potential, to register for a more expensive domain to protect their assets.

Well, there is good that will come of this 'shylock' initiative. At least people are talking about focusing on the web experience of mobile users, and at least squatters are provided with a brand new set of domains to hold hostage.