Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Domain Names : The End of Domain Names?

[lampet]

I was a very early adopter of the Internet, way back when the first ISP opened for business in Australia (population 18 million). I didn't see the potential for investment in the shares of the ISP company, and kicked myself when the founders of that company sold out for millions in profit (before the dotcom crash). So I missed out on that boom. Neither did I see domain names as a potential investment, so I think I have missed that boom also.

In the last couple of years I have registered a couple of domain names, for potential ecommerce use, but found it very hard to obtain the .com names I wanted. So I had to settle for very long, hyphenated .com names or the something shorter with a .com.au extension.

Now I see all these other extensions/spaces being offered, presumably to allow people to register names that are are no longer available in the .com space, among other things.

I wondered whether it was too late to jump on the band wagon for investing in domain names. Sure enough, no matter how creative I was with a name, the .com space was already taken. So I thought, I will have to register my names in the .com.au space. But then I wondered about copyright and trademark infringement if someone already has the name registered in the .com or any other space and, possibly, already has an active web site. I have yet to search the forum for members advice on this legal issue.

Now I am wondering where all this is heading. With personal computing power and the internet expanding at an exponential rate. Surely domain names will become obsolete one day? AI is already being used in many of the applications we use (e.g Google). Voice recognition technology must be well advanced by now. Your XBox 360 Kinect responds to your body movements. You use your iPhone to connect to the web... No keyboard or mouse in sight! How far off is brain-machine interaction?

Does anyone believe that any of these advancing technologies, if applied to our interaction with the Internet, will be using domain names to access a web page?

I don't know what the technology will be that replaces domain names, but I will bet that it will be invented in the not too distant future.

[intelliServe]

I don't imagine anything replacing them, there isn't really many alternatives.

I see more short extensions being added, and the .com lowering in value as .eu, .co and .uk increase.

A number system like an ipv4 address has always been an option, but marketing with an IP address would fail, nevermind an ipv6 address.

Maybe one day there'll be little chip cards that you swipe in your computer, but that would basically ruin the internet.

[Vinayak_Sharma]

I don't see an end for domain names in my lifetime, and I know I am going to live quite long.

Domain name industry is still going strong, so make hay when sun shines.

[Orien]

Originally Posted by lampet

How far off is brain-machine interaction?

That's still a long ways off.

[intelliServe]

Also iPhones don't really do anything better than a computer with keyboard and mouse, yeah the technology is advanced but touchscreen technology isn't something a mobile phone needs.

But a series of kinect-like hand movements to get to a web-page could lead to weight-loss worldwide, its genius.

[coax]

DNS is very ingrained in society now, both socially and economically, and it is in many ways the perfect solution for naming servers that traditionally use IP addresses. Unless there is a revamp of the way domains are sold and managed, or a new protocol altogether I think they will stick around for quite some time.

As far as investing in domains go, this is a whole 'science' in itself and you should read dedicated domainer forums and blogs because it's very much about being up to date on trends etc. Domains themselves can still be worth millions and in many cases many thousands but actually getting them is the problem for most without the cash, but still not impossible.

Just as a sidenote, nobody can really predict with 100% accuracy where the internet is headed. There could be a big sudden change etc.

[tacgrp]

Sure, it will become obsolete however there will be something new that replaces them which registrars of today will switch to. Yes, you missed the .com boom however .co is increasing and is now probably the next best move.

Best of luck to you!

[SiberForum]

Originally Posted by Zoom Active

Sure, it will become obsolete however there will be something new that replaces them which registrars of today will switch to. Yes, you missed the .com boom however .co is increasing and is now probably the next best move.

Best of luck to you!

I suppose nothing will be able to beat COM domain name extension. In any case most likely this one will be full soon

[Dan541]

I don't think domain names will ever go away for the simple fact that websites and servers need an address, domains also server as an identity on the internet. IPs change while a domain can be used for ever.

What we will see however is a much greater diversity of domains, it's already happening with many services using tlds other than .com, .net etc... Also expect many more normal (non-nerds) to be using their own domains in coming years. Blogger, Wordpress (the hosted service) and Google Apps, are making it easier that ever before for non-tech users to setup their own domains with little to no expertise required.

[HostGamma]

First the new domain name extensions have very little investing potential as compared to the .com, second, investing in domain names today is a whole different ball game, you have professional domainers sitting on tens of thousands of domain names, running automated tools to find new/expiring domains and register them etc. If you are still relying on your personal creativity to find domain names then this industry might not for you.

[Acheron]

Sure, they'll replace domain names right after they replace phone numbers. Perhaps we will be able to communicate telepathically.

[ezyvps]

I can see the way domain names are indexed for search morphing and the branding/trademark issue subsiding as DN's are less in the forefront of a brand and become what they represent (to servers)... name space. It is being discussed by the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. You can check out a the Mark Monitor blog for more info.
https://www.markmonitor.com/mmblog/

Jxff

[astutiumRob]

Originally Posted by lampet

I don't know what the technology will be that replaces domain names

It's not a technology that's replacing them, it's lack-of-clue

Almost 1/3rd of internet users don't even know what an address bar is !

[sterankofan18]

I do not see domains going away. And as far as .com becoming obsolte, I don't think so.

[ezyvps]

Originally Posted by sterankofan18

as far as .com becoming obsolte, I don't think so.

How .com will be perceived will change as Google (and other well known entities) apply and receive their own TLD(s). The name space popularity currently enjoyed by those with .com name space will begin to diminish. Not over night folks... but something has to change with name space for it to work better. So, if you have a website that does FOREX... look to see if .forex is in the accepted applicants this October. After that, to avoid initial trademark issues, the owners of FOREX trademarks will be given priority. What is important here is that future searches of FOREX related websites will have their own name space. It would be logical that ICANN would (eventually) regulate the use of name space for what the TLD intended use is. The cost for a .forex domain is likely to be high... maybe in the thousands per year. If an entity is spending 500k to get the .forex domain going the first year, the ROI looks pretty good

Jxff