On Friday, I had an interesting conversation on twitter with Justin Hayward, communications director of TelNic – the registry of the .tel domain TLD. For a person in an upper management position with the TelNic Registry, Justin came forth as being very defensive of his product, forgetting how twitter is a public medium. I understand that he was busy with promoting the .tel goods at Domain Convergence and getting ready for today’s TelCamp 1 in Toronto – a “boy scout” style convention organized by Canadian fans of this controversial TLD. However, Justin had no qualms about telling me to “go to hell” or that if I am not happy with my .tel domains I should “get rid of them”.
Someone hasn’t told Justin Hayward about leveraging Public Relations; he should take a hint from Sedo and how positively they recently responded to the porn ad fiasco.
Overall, Justin Hayward appeared to be unable to respond coherently to my main argument over disliking .tel and that being, that there is no possible way of real development for .tel domain names. Instead, he pointed me to the rantings of some obscure coder – one of these technology neo-hippies that subscribe to the mantra of “code is poetry“. Not my thing – development in my book is not lines of code rendering text hyperlinks.
Let’s go back to what .tel offers right this minute, several months after its public release through ICANN – all while still in pre-beta mode; an industry first.
TelNic removed the bottom links that pushed the Registry’s contact info but they still maintain the large .tel button at the top right as a reminder that .tel and TelNic owns your info. It’s all about brand recognition riding on whatever you place in the virtual contact card layout beneath – just like WalMart would like to do to all the products you’d buy – if only they could.
TelNic introduced an API that allows programmers to customize certain functions of the underlying DNS layer, and you can conveniently store the info at a .tel domain to your Outlook. As far as I can tell, there is no syncing function that’d allow me to publish info in my Outlook to the .tel domain, instead of using a multitude of beautiful ajax-driven forms that code poets at TelNic have created. Too bad.
With regards to new innovations, there was an announcement of the introduction of an ad API that’d allow the placement of text ads and thus the supposed monetization of .tel domains. Now, thinking how what you view on a .tel domain is a large textpad of 1994-era hyperlinks, that would make things look even more old-school, all while the large purple .tel button is the sole dominant graphic element on the page.
When it comes down to search engine placement, I did a simple experiment back in March, getting the .tel name of my CPA – he has a hard to pronounce .net domain – and entering all his info as a .tel contact card, with links to the live web site. After submitting it to Google, it’s still #35 in the results when searching for the name. Meanwhile, his obscure .net is still #1. Perhaps it’s the lack of any type of meta tags in the HTML generated by the “code poets” at TelNic; just view the source of any .tel domain and you’ll see what I mean.
The bottom line: .tel is a castrated TLD that was somehow allowed by ICANN to go live while still having unresolved technical issues. Their campaign through the media does not openly disclose that one cannot park, develop or host any web site on a .tel domain. Instead, the main push is for a virtual card that offers no graphic eye candy and no ability to remove the .tel branding.
In my closing statement to Justin Hayward, I responded that he would gain a lot of my support if they introduced a regular DNS layer that would allow .tel owners to develop their domains. It’s technically very simple; a code switch that would allow the current functions to give way to regular DNS resolving. However, as I told Justin Hayward, that’s going to happen when hell freezes over; for a company that supports the “code is poetry” motto that’s downright bizarre.
TelNic is content with the brand recognition and promotion, the same way that Abercombie & Fitch promotes the brand instead of the garment; and that’s too bad in the domain industry that has lots of attractive alternatives to offer.
Very good read and well written.
Thank you.
Adatise, thanks.
Towards the end of this article you actually contribute positively towards the enhancement of a new TLD, unlike previous posts on the .Tel thread on NamePros. Maybe if you approached Justin in a manner that would be obvious that the intention is to help rather than to ridicule you could be a driving force in helping many many people. I believe having a .Tel sucks forum and at the same time trying to have a conversation with the .Tel people puts you at a disadvantage as far as them having an open minded conversation with you. If you are a professional you should be able to figure out how to get your message across without eliciting a ” go to hell ” I bet with a concentrated effort enough good ideas will eventually be implemented to make .Tel a great extension to own.
gk, I am not here to babysit Justin or an entire domain registry. If one fails to see their pitfalls through several months’ worth of feedback – not just from me but from numerous others – they’re on their own with regards to negative backlash. Unfortunately, what you or other blind supporters don’t admit is that .tel cannot be considered a valid or viable option in the domain world. It sure looks cool on an iPhone or on the TelNic Ben.tel commercial. To us developers that don’t live in 1994, .tel is just a gimmick.
I didn’t tell Justin to “go to hell”, he did. Don’t twist what was said. As for my “.tel sucks” signature, I run http://telsucks.com as a conversation forum about .tel – feel free to bring your arguments there. But since you don’t like its name, go to http://telrules.com 😀
I have to agree with gk on this one….
So you don’t like .tel, that’s “painfully” obvious…
Some people drive Fords, and won’t drive a Chevy and vice versa, some people use Linux, and hate MS products and again vice versa.
So what…
Time and time again, I’m amazed that people feel the need to try force an opinion on someone to get them to agree with them.
While it’s one thing to “suggest” something in order to make it easier to use/utilize, that’s similar to asking apple to open up their proprietary software so that it would be easier to use
I’m a big proponet of any extension that the owner feels he/she can use to enhance their presence, sometimes it’s not about the money, or PPC, or Rankings….and if you don’t happen to like the extension? don’t use it…Just because someone else does, is no prerequisite to chastize them.
I also take a bit of offense to your:
getting ready for today’s TelCamp 1 in Toronto – a “boy scout” style convention organized by Canadian fans of this controversial TLD
As gk said, If you are a professional you should be able to figure out how to get your message across without eliciting a negative response.
Dluzional – in this world people might choose not to drive a Ford once they discover that the engine is made in Pakistan.
In a similar manner, .tel does not promote itself as a “non-developable” domain. The glitter of the ben.tel commercial does not extend under the hood.
If you dislike my writing style, that’s not because I write untruths, it’s because you choose not to accept my statements as such. Nobody forces you to read what I write.
On the other hand, when I use .tel products and Justin Hayward tells me to “stop whining” and to “drop them” if I don’t like them, I feel pretty empowered about what I write 🙂
Once again, I can’t disagree with you on the .tel topic. Good article.
Find it surprising .tel is getting many registrations in view of being unable to park, develop or host a .tel domain website.
In addition, the requirement to display the large purple .tel logo and no meta tags makes it even more negative. I just looked at hell.tel source code and did not see mata tags (not even the description), which tag is quite valuable for search-engine indexing.
David – for the record, after Justin Hayward told me to go find hell’s temperature myself and use a thermometer, I naturally punched in hell.tel – I think it’s funny that it’s actually a live site 🙂
I believe if you look back at the tweet, which you acknowledged as being delivered with English humour, I simply said ‘when you get there’, you might like to check the temperature. After which you then embarked on your ‘fact’ stating mission.
For the record, we do listen to feedback from our users which doesn’t contradict the regulations that ICANN has licensed .tel domains under, and which also is delivered in a constructive manner. See our roadmap at http://telnic.org/community-roadmap.html – much of which has been built after feedback. But then, I guess you’ll say we launched in beta; something I really can’t understand when every other TLD has launched giving its customers *absolutely nothing* but a .something to build a website under.
As another point of note, the ‘obscure coder’ is a well-published senior developer at Yahoo!, responsible for a number of their data service products – see his work at http://icant.co.uk. That domain names are changing to do something other than publish rich websites, instead becoming the pointer to secure distributed information sharing networks is something that won’t go back in the box. That this appeals to a new type of ‘developer’ and that this is something you can’t get your head around, well, I’m sorry, that’s just the case.
And yes, it’s difficult to address all of your vague statements of ‘fact’ on Twitter as 140 characters is not enough to explain all of the ways in which you’re fundamentally assessing .tel only from the view of someone who publishes websites.
My point is, a) there are plenty of other extensions (every other one) that you can host a traditional website on – why have a go at the one that is aiming to do something different? and b) if you come with suggestions and comments that are constructive, for sure we’ll listen to them. But I’ve heard nothing new from you since you launched your almost single-handed offensive in Namepros, then on your own forum (which you acknowledged was good for your traffic) and now on Twitter.
You’ve had considered responses several times from patient people at Telnic and those responsible for its development. That you discount the work done does cause personal affront and yes, we are people, so expect that your words will evoke a reaction.
We’re still open to feedback and you never know, we may even have some things that you would like to see delivered planned.
With best regards and respect if it is returned,
Justin Hayward
Telnic Limited
justin.tel
Justin, you seem to beat around the bush, first you call the Namepros thread a “single-handed offensive” when there are so many other domainers that resent the approach .tel has taken that it won’t be funny when TelNic sees the renewal figures.
I consider the twitter conversation we had indicative of the kind of approach you take, as a TelNic officer, and I seriously can’t but wonder whether TelNic needs to reconsider your role in the organization.
Despite the “British humor” quotation, you acted aggravated, told me to stop whining and asked me to get rid of my .tel domains in a tone unsuitable to a TelNic officer.
I have done my research over the course of several months and all of my points brought forth led to TelNic changing some of its initial issues, e.g. removed the backlicks to TelNic.
So now you’re playing the “be different” card that Apple played for several years, before they realized they had to use Intel CPUs in order to gain a market share.
If .tel is different, then please educate the hordes of .tel followers about what .tel isn’t: it’s not a TLD to use for development and you need to make it very clear in your promotions through the usual advertising channels, including online banners. Right now, even .im is more appealing once compared to .tel with regards to the single most important use of DEVELOPMENT.
I will mention again that I am very disappointed having had to make defensive/proactive registrations of .tel domains and I cannot set up anything on them, other than the virtual card which you guys consider innovative.
I believe that it’s only fair to return the best regards and respect, as long as you open your eyes to my points, shared among many others in the domain community.
For the sake of record keeping, here’s the entire twitter exchange.
Acroplex: @justinhayward Will .tel add regular DNS records, or we stand a better chance of hell freezing over? #telsucks #domains12:01 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex I don’t understand your question but tell me if you can tweet from hell when you get there and don’t forget a thermometer.12:09 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward Typical British humor; only problem is I grew up to it. http://hell.tel sure looks like a nice “developed” site! Not!12:14 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex oh look, using the ‘not’ statement at the end of your tweet. How ’90s of you. But wait, thought you didn’t like stuff from ’90s?12:47 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward Let’s face it, focusing on customer issues is not your strongest point. Remember, I do own .tel domains.12:50 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex Sell them if you don’t want them. Stop whining like a baby with irrelevant issues. Real developers love .tel. Get used to it.12:57 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward Real developers love .tel? Can I use this quote from you? As #domain stand-up comedy goes, it’s a powerful statement.1:03 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex yes, please quote me – you’re the only one in the room who finds it funny. I don’t mean #domain developers, I mean @codepo8 etc1:09 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward You should be appreciative of all the analysis I put to .tel through my blog; I saved your project managers’ lots of time.1:05 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex you call that analysis? Now I’m laughing. Bless you.1:10 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward You’re proud of .tel being the first TLD to be approved by ICANN while in pre-beta? It sure looks like beta now.1:11 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Acroplex: @justinhayward If you cannot stand unbiased criticism, you hold the wrong spot in your corporation. I am a customer of TelNic, remember?1:12 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex Unbiased criticism? Get real. If you don’t “believe” in .tel that’s different and your right. So sell up. I’m not bothered. Bye.1:17 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward Sorry, I don’t subscribe to the neo-hippy “Code is poetry” mantra.1:13 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Acroplex: @justinhayward I believe in facts and the facts say that .tel is at the bottom of the #domain food chain. Harsh? Yes. But also true.1:23 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Acroplex: @justinhayward But I will give you a break since there is a .tel groupie convention tomorrow. I’m going to miss it, unfortunately.1:25 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex Your facts need substantiation. We’re a new type of use for the domain, hence you can have your own opinion and dislike it.1:30 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward I am simply disseminating your claims of “development”. A virtual contact card is *not* development. End of story.1:31 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex That doesn’t even warrant a response I’m sorry. You can end the “story” there, I agree. Bye.1:36 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward It’s been great witnessing TelNic’s excellent quality of service in real time. Matches the http://hell.tel content.1:39 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Justin Hayward: @acroplex Respect is a two-way street.1:42 PM Aug 14th from twhirl in reply to acroplex
Acroplex: @justinhayward Respect those that disagree with you; acolytes are easy to buy. The days of the Roman empire are long gone.1:50 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Acroplex: @justinhayward Implement a regular DNS layer and you’ll see a jump in .tel appreciation from me – this way I can develop my .tel’s1:51 PM Aug 14th from web in reply to justinhayward
Thanks for outlining the entire twitter conversation – it does indeed give both sides of the story.
I will also state as you’ve requested that .tel is NOT for developing traditional websites; we’ve made that clear right from the start. In fact, the A record is locked by Telnic as it points to a proxy page. Nothing new there that isn’t made clear; it’s to provide a standard way of viewing .tel information on the web.
But by simply claiming that because you can’t develop a traditional website on a .tel domain means that you can’t develop a .tel domain doesn’t make that a true statement, I’m sorry. By enabling a standard service for sharing of data, you’re developing both a personal data store using the DNS (at the moment ours, but as Henri our CTO has said on numerous occasions, soon others can become accredited) and thus creating a distributed information sharing network, for the first time accessible to many.
The .tel enables individuals with no technical experience to own, manage and gain advantage from a place on the internet which they can edit and update without the need for web design, web hosting and web development. It’s accessible for people in many countries where the first point of entering the web isn’t the PC.
Your complaints all seem to come from a traditional web access point of view, but you can in fact bypass the web accessing information in .tel domains using VoIP software, mobile applications and applications that plug into software like Microsoft Outlook. At a fraction of the cost of accessing the content over the web browser. So, yes, .tel domains really aren’t used in the same way as traditional domains.
There’s enough space on the Internet for websites and domains that enable people to be discovered wiihtout the need for a traditional website. But this is something that you do not seem to want to acknowledge.
I’m sure you will continue in your belief that the .tel is worthless to those with PC and traditional computer access and nothing we can say will bring us in line with the importance of providing the benefits of domain ownership to those without the traditional skills, access and budgets that we enjoy in the US and the UK.
I believe in dealing with people professionally when both parties act professionally. Can you really look at your ‘Hell freezes over’ comment and say that was a reasonable, professional, un-provocative thing to say in a public forum and expect me to deliver a sensible answer?
If you’ve really taken offense and this isn’t just a play for eyeballs on your site and you genuinely feel that I’ve been unprofessional without cause, personally hurtful or malicious, then I will state on your blog that I unreservedly apologize. I only ask that you acknowledge that there is an understanding gap between Telnic and yourself when it comes to the purpose and service that .tel domains provide and either be at peace with that or engage in a dialog that we can actually do something about addressing, if it is within our power and under the terms of the license granted to us by ICANN.
Regards,
Justin Hayward
Telnic Limited
justin.tel
Thank you Justin, for acknowledging the precise functionality and purpose of .tel domains.
Therefore, I expect to see further demonstration of it at forums and public advertising – disclosing that one cannot build, host, or develop a “traditional” web site on a .tel domain, per ICANN licensing restrictions. This will help alleviate a lot of “unnecessary” customers, who would otherwise want to use a .tel domain like any other regular TLD.
I understand that fragmentation of communication via twitter does not allow for complete understanding of one’s points; this was hopefully resolved here.
With regards to my position on .tel domains, I will continue to make factual postings about restrictions and/or improvements on its functionality.
Frankly, I like “.tel” more than “.mobi” in terms of a TLD, however I would like to see it function as a regular TLD as well.
Wishing you best of success – keep an eye open to constructive criticism that would lead to business improvement.
I now understand what Justin is saying in that .tel is different in that it’s basically an online business card and a niche market extension.
Since there are so many traditional extensions for registering domains for use as a website, etc I can see how there is room for .tel and .tel may be able to successfully carve out a niche.