[12381] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
About the creation of new 3-letter domain(s)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barry Shein)
Tue May 17 10:07:20 1994
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 23:12:05 -0400
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
To: dfazio@mr.net
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Dennis Fazio's message of Mon, 16 May 1994 14:42:13 -0500 (CDT) <199405161942.OAA29551@riverside.mr.net>
Re: multi-level geographical domain names...
Well, hmm, then why not just use phone numbers (country codes, area
codes, etc) and be done with it? It's shorter, I know I can reach
almost any phone in the world with around 14 digits.
Then you could discover someone's (or some company's) domain and
probably even site name by calling directory assistance. And they'll
(the telcos) will guarantee they're unique and manage the namespace
for us basically for free.
I suggested this back around 1984 when DNS was still being spun (on
the TCP-IP list) and they laughed then also. So, hey, laugh again...!
Ok, so who's gonna be the first one to tell us that a system that
requires people to come up with strings of digits can't possibly be
viable? Hey, tell it to AT&T.
Anyhow, as I said in 1984, perhaps user interfaces should worry about
mapping what you like to call something to the actual string that is
needed, just as you do with your phone number file &c.
Oh, the other objection from 1984 was that people don't like to give
out their phone number. The answer then and now is then buy your
computer another phone for the minimum $5-$20/month or so and don't
plug a phone into that line, in fact, tell telco you'll pay it and
want it listed but please don't install it, or use it as a modem line,
etc.
Heck, you could even list it under "Shein, Barry Domain" or some such
clue for others to recognize.
-Barry Shein
Software Tool & Die | bzs@world.std.com | uunet!world!bzs
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202 | Login: 617-739-WRLD
