Morning Folks!!
So I was in Istanbul for 2 days and 1 day in another part of Turkey (Kusadasi and Ephesus pictured below). I like to look at local magazine ads. I noticed something a little unusual. While almost all had an email address in their ads, only about one third actually had a website listed. Brought me back a few years when that was more common here. But it still made me wonder. Especially with a young population with an average age of about 35.
Then my wife was interested in an item and she told them that she did not want to make a decision right now and would email them when she got back and have them ship it to her. Which they replied that they 'don’t ship.' I thought that pretty weird and that made all of us question the legitimacy of the business even though they seemed to be solid.
I later learned that Turkey was one of the few countries in the world in which the US Post Office would not insure or even guarantee delivery. It seems their mail system is so wrought with fraud that some 20%-30% never make it to their final destination. Many have found ways around that by opening US offices and sending boatloads of merchandise. But a disconnect to be sure.
There was a noticeable difference with their next door neighbor, Greece. Websites were common, to the ads, still not to the U.S. numbers, but .gr was everywhere and .com was pretty solid there as well. The folks that can benefit the most from the Internet also seem to be the ones to embrace it last. Go figure.
On the ship I strolled in to a “CruiseCritic.com get together. There must have been about 100 members there. I was looking for the culinary tour at the time and joined the wrong group. Just shows the power of the Internet once reserved for techies and webmasters, now includes so many different groups and interests that will again transform the net to what it was meant to be. The greatest communication device ever invented. The greatest shopping tool ever invented. The greatest information resource ever invented. The greatest learning tool ever invented. The greatest gaming ever invented. The greatest this, the greatest that. I could go on all day all night and still barely scratch the surface. The greatest social gathering mechanism ever invented and that includes millions of things I would have to list here once again.
Domains are a sliver of the opportunity out there. It is a foundational sliver and that guarantees a value that can only be judged when most folks truly understand the power of this medium. I have lived and breathed this medium for 14 years as a domain owner and years before that. And while I have always understood the power that could be achieved, even I am still getting my head around it. So how long for the casual user to get their heads around it? Be patient my friends. The true value of domains may not reveal themselves until we are all long gone from this planet. Even inventions like Ben Franklin and electric are still bearing fruit hundreds of years later. Look at all the things that we would not have in our lives had there been no electric. Think old Ben would be amazed beyond words? More invented after his death. After the death of all in that era and many eras since. Perhaps the real building blocks of civilization and progress. No electric no nothing. No computer. No modern medicine. No anything we come to use and live with and get comfort from.
There will be a reason that we will not have a great depression like 1929. The reason is the Internet and the reason is much beyond. So many new products will be hitting the market and they will all be internet enabled. Things you would never even imagine. Your dishwasher. Your oven. Your refrigerator. Any electrical device. Any battery operated device. Maybe even in furniture.
We are on the edge of history. The cutting edge. That edge is about to get red hot. Hotter than anything anyone has ever seen. Once all income had to come from a local market. Today that market is any point on the globe. The realization of the power that has yet to be tapped into will unleash a wave that will last for generations. So many models to copy in one ring and apply to another ring. Another market. Another group.
Greatness comes from despair. Success is born from adversity. Depression and recession produce motivation to think and create. If you have all the food, no reason to farm. Point is getting the world out of their “Comfort zone” is the greatest thing ever to happen to the internet and to domains. After the pain will come the gain.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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