Windows Phone Thoughts: 'Land Rush' Begins for .MOBI Domains

"Today is the day that designated domain name registrars have been given the green light to open up the application process for new .mobi top-level domain Web addresses to anyone seeking to establish a name in the burgeoning mobile Web space. Beginning now, anybody who can provide proof of trademark and country of trademark origin can register for a domain, if it promises to use that name for small device-oriented Web sites only...The intention behind the new TLD was to encourage the creation of Web services for small devices, and practically all mobile carriers in the U.S. have supported the move. But the objection of many influential parties, including some of the Web's very founders, remain on the record, as some believe the replication of namespaces is degenerating the founding principles of the Internet for the sake of growing a commercial franchise."

Jason Langridge put up some thoughts on the subject, and you can see them here. Darius discussed the ramifications of a .mobi domain, as well. In addition to all of these thoughts, I have a very simple, practical one as we see these sites roll out: as a consumer of content, how am I to use this domain? Should I first put "microsoft.mobi", for instance, into my URL field, and then switch to "microsoft.com" afterwards if the .mobi one doesn't work? What if "pda.mobi" is a different company than "pda.com"? The fact that, as BetaNews reports, a "land rush" has started on the top-level domain (TLD) worries me immensely. I'm afraid that we'll end up with yet another TLD blurring the idea of a domain name. What's your thoughts?