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Different looking templates As a UIdesigner and Artdirector I think the .tel look really needs to be able to look more sexy if its going to take off with mainstream people. Right now it looks kind of boring, stiff and tech geeky the look is very yellowpages. But for a private person who wants just to use it as a contactpage it looks to boring. It does not have to overloaded with graphics or effects just a couple of different templates with different colors/background patterns and fonts to chose from. Such as a A slick black template. A pink template. A red template. etc. The more the better... I still think the layout should remain the same though. |
Welcome to the forum spline I could not agree enough on your post. |
I think templates based on category might be nice: a restaurant template a bar template a hotel template, etc. Offering unique links: i.e. menu for bar or restaurant wouldn't be necessary for a car dealership. A lot of the request for graphics and logos and images sort of blends the ideas of directories or listings into one theory: .tel is more of a 'white pages' than a 'yellow pages' In most cities I've seen phone directories, the white pages lists basic information, the yellow pages lists more of a display listing which allows just that: display of images, graphics, etc. Is it a future development that .tel will be more of a 'yellow pages' than a 'white pages'? Isn't a traditional web site the internet version of the 'yellow pages' anyway? |
Let people make it look like they think it should look like. People are not geniuses. When you try to control them too much they just go elsewhere (which is what they do now). All template-based website gadgets have failed when companies tried to launch them in mid 90's it won't be different this year. Only requirement is to keep the .tel data as it is, always accessible at the same place and in the same way, and keep the focus on this, which is what makes the product special, Having the possibility of branding and adding some content within the current structure is not only possble, but is the only way to make it interesting. Open your mind. This is NOT rocket science. |
Totally Agree with you all, we need more attractiveness in a .tel page if its so called my.tel your.tel or call me on shahid.tel well shahid need to be different from others in many aspect even if the information there is same, i do think allowing people to have a webbased templates that are hosted on the registrar wouldn't be bad. i am even willing to provide use of www.webtemplates.tel :D incase you want to promote it |
I think it would be valuable if someone actually was able to poll Joe Public to see what the real concerns and thoughts were, versus the speculation that is sounded here. The statements made as fact really aren't. |
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Go on the street and try to sell a dozen listings on a .tel directory, or simply .tels to any established business on your area.[/size] |
Good point there Telepass, as i mentioned earlier i did try to mail many people regarding being listed on various of my domains at a price of just 10 US$ / yr none came back haha |
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Exactly some of the members might not have an idea of the reality. Unless they go out and sell the listings they will not know what people expect (the basics). again no one is asking for graphics, the OP stated for a color scheme which is basically a simple basic code #000000, etc. having a simple predefined size and format logo does not kill .tel or its uniqueness. The unique feature of .tel is the technology and not it's looks.[/size] |
Is it simply 'cart before the horse'. Do directories have any value if they're unknown? I personally think directories will come into prominence once the domain is adopted, not before. The opportunity, IMHO, is selling .tel names. Developing particular names as a directory is secondary. |
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Very well said. So you mean that .Tel does not have value unless it reach the final stage (dialing without the need of a third party tool?)[/size] |
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Zero value, indeed. Quote: [/size]
The domain is only being adopted by domainers and start ups because it lacks the flexibility required by established businsees (e.g. you can't do much with it.. no logo, no branding, no basic content). Quote: [/size]
You just described a typical MLM scheme. Selling something to another person who can only do one thing with it : Sell it to another person. This works until the majority of owners realize that selling this to another is the only thing they can do with it. Then they drop the ball (they don't renew) and you end up with falling numbers and financial mess. Selling hype works, but it does not last. The product has to be useful. Any business can't be profitable until (or unless) it is built on a solid foundation : Real users (not resellers) who purchase the product because it is useful to them. Real users need flexibility.. Templates would be a (small) improvement but why keeping on trying to control users? Let them do whatever they want with the graphics, logos, brandings and let them add content while keeping the .tel info where it is, so users can still get it in a flash. Then you will have real users and when you have enough real users you can regroup them in directories, where people will go and find something interesting and useful, then it will build up. It just can't work the other way around.[/size] |
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Really? That's what you think selling someone a .tel domain is, a MLM scheme? You don't see value in: "Call me sometime, you can get me at jerk.tel" versus "Call me sometime, my number is 555-555-5555" That's the big deal about .tel. That's what it's for. Names versus numbers. Click to connect. Simple.[/size] |
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From what I see here, as the product is right now*, the only real usage so far is selling the .tel's to other persons, who, in turn can only sell em to another person etc. Show me established businesses who are actively using and promoting it and I may change my mind. Quote: [/size]
In the old days we called that 'vanity numbers'. It's been around for many years Quote: [/size]
How many business owners have you convinced to pay for this? ------------------------- * My point here is that there is not enough value in the product today to convince business owners to buy, develop and investing a substantial advertising budget in a .tel listing.[/size] |
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Well, it's actually the 'new' vanity number, even if it isn't a 'number'. I'll admit I've sold a miserable few .tel names. However, the platform I'll be reselling hasn't actually been introduced. It is within days of finally being released. So, I've had to contend with being patient. I have voiced displeasure in the past that things weren't clipping along as well as I'd like, and made several observations that begged the question 'would .tel succeed'. If the prospect of total failure were impending I think people would simply walk away. The fact that so many people seem 'up in arms' about their opinions about what's what with dot tel makes me think there's definitely more to it. There are so many petty comparisons to other domains ( like .mobi ), mostly on namepros, that really just miss the whole point. It really is, however, just a frustration that some people still contend that it's acceptance seems reliant on what it looks like versus what it does.[/size] |
Here's how i see it: If you want any product to take off, you have to offer value for the money. Or at least, customers have to see a value for their money, even if it is just a perception. Without the individual customer seeing a real value for his money, you cannot build a commercially viable directory, UNLESS you have a ton a traffic to send them (And admit it, no one here has any substantial traffic to offer yet). ------------------------------ SIMULATION Right now, you will try to show a restaurant owner a .tel listing (say, La Casa Bonita* casabonita.tel), saying it is valuable to them. He says 'what's in if for me?' You say 'people will be able to remember your phone number more easily, because all they have to remember is casanbonita.tel'. The owner replies 'yeah but i already have casabonita.com with my phone number in it, why I should register a .tel too?' You say 'because users can click your phone number and get connected to you' He says "cool please show it to me?' You grab your phone, and show him your demo 'nicerestaurant.tel He looks and says 'can I put my logo there? change colors? put a picture of my restaurant as we just renovated for $30,000 and clients think it's awesome? You say 'no it's not necessary, and we can't put images there' He says 'why not? I see images on my phone, why not on your site?' You say 'because logos and pictures are just cute but not useful' He says 'really?.. OK if you say it... so when is this thing going to bring me customers?' You say 'when my directory superrestaurants.tel takes off He says 'ok show it to me' You show it to him He says "Are we on the same page as before? It looks exactly the same" You say 'No It's my directory' He says 'How many people are visiting your directory now?' You say, 'not many now but this will become the reference etc etc' Then he tells you to come back later when your directory has traffic, tells you the coffee you just had is on the house and that he has another meeting with another person that wishes to sell him advertising. ------------------------ This, my friends, is the everyday reality of a small business. No value? No sale. That's brutal but that's it. Around 1995 I was one of the few people who launched a tourist directory on the Web, at this time almost nobody in the city had heard about the Internet. We were trying to sell 'web pages' to restaurants, florists, hotels, museums etc. These are the questions we were getting.. every single day... every single place we were going. We ended up selling hundreds of pages and were eventually hired by the City to build the official tourist directory (which is still online today). But you know what? Every business wanted to have its logo, it's colors and ad text, even if they had no idea of the traffic we were going to send them. But at least we were able to offer them a media channel that looked like their business and they were feeling comfortable with. All this just to say that the 'images is just cute' 'images and logos are useless' thinking is just opposite of what any business owner thinks. For all the business owners I met in my life (And i met hundreds of them) I remember none who would have say 'Well I don't need my logo there it' just a graphic and it's useless' Any one of you who thinks logos and gaphics are useless, including telnic staff, should go out and meet in person with hard working small business owners and tell them their logo and graphics are useless and they don't need to show pictures of their business. Let's see what kind of answers you will get. * This one is for South Park fans |
OK here's an example of what I think a .tel should look like, for blackberry / smartphone users (those are just ideas, far from perfect, but much more interesting that what we have right now). Of course if user has a crappy phone he should only see the boring version phone numbers etc (no graphics) but why penalize (and annoy!) the people who paid hundreds of dollars for theid BB, iPhone or HTC Touch? They expect more than a boring white page with a .tel logo which they have no idea what it means (and they actually don't care!) This is just an idea of how an existing business (which is my favourite restaurant www.buonanotte.com) could look like only if people would open their mind and be allowed for creativity with the .tel platform. I think the idea of .tel was brilliant. However the execution of the strategy is many years behind what people are expecting from a mobile media in 2009. http://www.lerelais.com/1.jpg 1) Background (5k) 2) Official logo (10k) 3) Splash picture (15k) 4) .tel data (comes from dns). click to call numbers etc http://www.lerelais.com/2.jpg 1) Picture gallery, which can be uploaded and maintained by the .tel owner. He could just take pics with his phone and upload them with the .tel app or a nice 3rd party app which would be developed by .tel community. 2) Navigation (Next picture or home) ---------------- http://www.lerelais.com/3.jpg Location on the map (from .tel) |
Telepass, That a brilliant approach to .tel and trust me if they adopt .tel in similar way .tel will skyrocket. as you very well put it, they technology was being reviewed by iccan and waiting for approval back in 2000/01 but now things have change. EG: before you were happy with a phone that had no antenna ( my first phone Nokia 3210 ) now i have Blackberry Bold and i cant live without it. speed of internet used to be 56kb -512kb now its 4mb-16mb broadband wireless, so things are changing and so should our mentality gradually, as a saying goes everything that shine is not gold but everything that shines sells |
So basically you want .tel to be .mobi? |
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I want it to be useful and popular[/size] |
