mzanzig - 12:37 pm on Oct 2, 2006 (gmt 0)

I think the limiting factor is not The Plex here. If you take an honest look at the market, you will notice that we are not there yet.

1) Mobile devices are only now beginning to have all necessary components for a successful mobile Internet story - Large and bright displays, sufficient bandwidth, and suitable standby time. But these devices are still the minority.

2) Mobile websites are still in their infancy. People may know that they exist, but they do not look for the pages actively. I guess the main reason for this is, that they have been disappointed (by the promise of WAP being the "mobile Internet") before.

Combine these two, and you know that the mobile Internet is not going anywhere soon. The technology is here, but the content must follow. Otherwise the mobile Internet will suffer the same niche life as it did until now.

Regarding the .mobi domain - I have not seen a single statement that convinces me that it will lift off. Here's why:

- Content providers need to comply with the .mobi specifications within 60 days after they (the .mobi guys) have changed these specs. This may be fine for larger content providers with big IT/programming departments, but for smaller content providers this can be challenging. On the other hand, if you ARE a big content provider, you do not NEED a .mobi domain. Your content will be demanded anyhow. It does not matter whether it is hosted on .mobi or on wap.mycompany.com or on www.mycompany.com/mobile - people will find you. In these cases you do not need .mobi, but it turns out that .mobi needs you.

- What benefits does a content provider get from the .mobi domain in the first place? Does he get preferred listings with search engines? Does he get preferred listings with mobile operator portals? Does he get an automated revenue share from network operators? Nope. The only advantage is that people see immediately that the site is designed/compatible with mobile devices. Cool, isn't it?

- The .mobi domain has been discussed for some time now, and still it has not become a hype (yet) among content providers. They are still struggling to tame the Internet. They simply do not worry about the mobile space.

So, in my view, you can easily sit back and wait whether .mobi lifts off and then still jump on the bandwagon to monetize. :-)