I've been using the same old mobile phone for the past four years. It's almost become an extension of me with its friendly chirping ring tone, photos of happy moments and a very expansive diary and calendar.
I recently went to answer my phone only to have it slip out of my hand and crash to the floor at my feet. Ever since then I've been staring at a screen that's just not quite right and the happy sounds that it made before disappeared amidst a collage of beeps that seemed to reflect a hackers delight.
Sadly, like the dog "Old Yella", I knew it was time to put my old faithful phone down and see what new delights the market could offer. After spending the best part of a day in research (ie. being lied to by mobile sales people) I was deciding between an iPhone and an HTC Diamond.
The iPhone looks really cool but being the technophile that I am I listened to the sales consultants that all seemed to agree and say that Apple had developed its own proprietary BlueTooth which wouldn't work with my car. They also all said that the HTC would have no problems at all. I figured that this couldn't be a concerted lying effort to sway the minds of consumers so I purchased the HTC.Like a new proud father I took the HTC home and began experiment. It's a great phone (ie. it looks hot) with one exception I can't get it to work with my car. It would appear that the BlueTooth in the phone is incompatible with my car. As I'm unlikely to trade my R32 (ie. my pocket rocket of a car - see a previous article) so that my phone will work so I'm now in the process of working out what happened.
Standards are the problem. It would appear that the BlueTooth standard is being fragmented by manufacturers and software developers alike. I admit it that I don't know overly much about phones and how they work only that they need to do what they say they will do.
Let's think about this experience in terms of domains. Let's imagine that I'm a lone businessperson wanting to start a new business but the problem is that the only domain that's left to buy is x123dr45.com and that doesn't seem to represent a very cool company, particularly if you're selling stuffed widgets.
What I really want is a way to get "stuffedwidgets.com". Being the amateur Internet surfer that I am I type stuffedwidgets.com into my browser and up comes a page full of links. I'm a bit grumpy about this after all, I'm the stuffed widget king and I run a legitimate business here. What's this guy know about "stuffed widgets"?
It just so happens that there's no links to a for sale site on stuffedwidgets.com so I'm pondering what to do next. I talk with a friend of mine that's into computers and he tells me that there is this thing called "whois" that will allow me to contact to the existing owner. I'm pretty excited as it looks like I'm one step closer to my ideal domain. After a few hours I manage to find a website that provides whois is information. I look up stuffedwidgets.com and find that it's got a thing called privacy protect on it.
I see an email address listed so I send an email offering to buy the domain, wait a few days and nothing happens. I'm getting pretty tired of this experience by this time but I decide to persist and send another email. I still don't get a response.
In a fit of frustration I type stuffedwidgets.com into my browser again. This time the page looks different and incredible as it may seem there is a link to click on for potential purchasers. With great excitement I click on it and I'm faced with a raft of questions from a company I've never heard of that finally asks me to agree to a huge set of terms and conditions that if clicked on would probably mean that I've just sold my kids into a lifetime of servitude.
I hum, "Easy come, easy go" and agree to everything. I just want my domain name! I figure that I'd better offer a pretty high price so that I can get the domain and move on with my business plans to conquer the stuffed widget industry. I surmise that a 700% mark up should really wet the current owner's appetite. What business wouldn't be happy with that sort of mark-up. With that, I offer $50.
A few days later I check my account and discover that the owner has responded (which would normally be a miracle) and have indicated that they would like at least $25,000 for it. I'm completely speechless. After going through all that I have gone through only to get a slap in the face. I think that it's time for the lawyers to get involved, after all, I am the king of "stuffed widgets" and there must be a way to get this domain into my hands via legal means.
Sure this scenario is purely fictitious.....but is it? I wouldn't be surprised that like my phone experience business after business is getting incredibly frustrated with the barriers to purchasing a domain name and negotiating the minefield of technical/business hurdles that are thrust before them.
There are no uniform standards for selling domains and any sales are normally conducted on a piece-meal basis. The most amazing thing is that sales do occur. What is even more incredible is that after a domain is finally purchased the technical hurdles are only just starting for the business owner! There is a huge value leap between perceived value based upon scarcity (ie. domainer pricing) and perceived value with no appreciation of the importance of a good domain....other than it would be nice (buyer pricing). As sellers, we can try to educate the buyer on the value of a domain but they are smart individuals and will most likely realise that the better educated that they get the higher the price will be.
Both Buydomains and Fabulous have tried to tackle these problems with their various channel to market domain sales systems. Even they haven't agreed on a set of standards that can easily be implemented by registrars, parking companies and the myriad of other outlets. I do not believe that the domain resale business will flourish until the issues of standards are resolved. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a set of standards for the sale of domains could be developed by an independent body like the ICA for all of our benefit?
I just hope that I don't have to buy another mobile phone in order to resolve my current BlueTooth woes.
Source: Posted on WhizzBangsBlog by Michael Gilmour -- Reprinted with permission -- October 13, 2008