I have just read a fascinating article in Smashing Magazine, likening web design to artchitecture. The article points to three areas where both professions need to focus: durability, utility and beauty.
Durability, because your website has to be built on solid foundations so that it can scale in terms of size and in terms of handling an increasing number of visitors.
Utility, because your website is there in order to allow your visitors to find information out about you as simply and as easily as possible. It needs to be user friendly. It must also enable your visitor to fulfil your objective for the website; be that contacting you or buying something from you.
Design, because your website must look pleasing to the eye. An ugly website will discourage visitors from exploring further. An attractive website will encourage visitors to delve deeper.
The new .tel domain names are released today (3rd December) for purchase by registered trade mark holders.
So what are they? They are supposed to act as a universal point for relaying your individual or your business contact details. You can tier how much information you want to be made public through your dashboard, so that you could make all your contact details available for your friends or close colleagues and a restricted amount available for public use.
There are three phases of availability:
1) Today trademark owners can purchase the .tel name relating to their brand at a cost of £279.99
2) 3rd February 2009: the “landrush” phase whereby you can purchase the .tel name at the premium cost of £79.99
3) 24th March 2009: open to anybody to purchase at a cost of £14.99.
Are they worth buying? At this stage I do not know. Looking at the costs, they are expensive unless you risk waiting for the domain name to be open for all comers.
However, it may make it easier for people to find you or your business’s contact information and prove to be an indispensible tool for mobile phones. So instead of giving somebody your telephone number, you will be able to give them your .tel address and they can choose to contact you in any number of ways via their mobile phones or computers (e.g. Skype, mobile, land line, email, Twitter etc etc).
You can buy them at Domain Monster if you are interested and you can read a BBC article about it here.
