Post-Zionism and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

shimon_kleinl_55.jpg Prof. Shlomo Avineri wrote a rather thought provoking article on post–Zionism, equating it with anti-Zionism and non-recognition of Israel. He maintains that post-Zionism does not exist.

According to his article, the idea of post-Zionism “is a radical criticism not just of Israel’s policy; at its base is total denial of the Zionist project and of the very legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish nation-state.

The arguments called “post-Zionist” have various aspects - not only political but also cultural. They view Zionism as a colonial phenomenon, not as a national movement that is contending with another, Palestinian, national movement over its claim to the same territory. Some of those who are called “post-Zionists” go even further in their argument that the very existence of a Jewish people is a “narrative” that was invented in the 19th century, and that the Jews are at base a religious community. The attitude of Zionism, which has most of its roots in Europe, toward Jews from the Muslim countries is also perceived in the context of colonial exploitation.”

Somehow, there seems to be a problem with the term post-Zionism. Post-Zionism is actually the period after Zionism. It is not a theory or philosophy as Prof Avineri states. Zionism is the “national revival movement of the Jewish people. It holds that the Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. Historically, Zionism strove to create a legally recognized national home for the Jews in their historical homeland. This goal was implemented by the creation of the State of Israel. Today, Zionism supports the existence of the state of Israel and helps to inspire a revival of Jewish national life, culture and language.” (From Zionism – Definition of Zionism).

Zionism played an important historic role in the establishment of Israel. The idea of post-Zionism is the period after Zionism, of which the latter has become irrelevant today. It was a Jewish liberation movement in the Diaspora where Jews had been a persecuted minority for many years because of anti-Semitism.

Now that Israel exists, Zionism has become history. The term non-Zionist is probably more accurate than post-Zionism, which according to Prof. Avineri is a development for delegitimizing Israel. While this may or may not be true, it is a misleading term.

Zionism is a term that is bandied about in Zionist Conferences but has no relevance to Israelis today. Many Zionists, who live in the Diaspora, meet at World Zionist Conferences in Jerusalem in order to salve their consciences by fundraising for causes whose impact on Israel is marginal (they are mostly wealthy people who have no intention of ever living in Israel, or at least, they intend to retire in Israel after achieving financial success in the Diaspora). They also have no clue as to the major problems facing Israel – not least of all, the corruption in government including what was Israel’s first citizen – ex-President Moshe Katzav - who has left office in disgrace after being accused of sexual offences bordering on rape. He has been offered a plea bargain if he admits to his sexual assault offences. This will wipe his slate clean of close to 90% of his sexual offences according to Katzav’s statement in an interview with Israel TV 2nd Channel. The conclusion reached is that with much money for legal defense, one can buy justice. The Diaspora Zionists hobnob with VIPs in the Israeli establishment and indulge in familial backslapping of each other, exuding self praise for their efforts of churning out hot air. Zionism has now been relegated to the wealthy, sitting in armchairs in living rooms, polluted with expensive cigar smoke, where their platitudes of solidarity with Israel is expressed and many conscience-salving financial donations are discussed. The World Zionist Conferences held in Jerusalem are becoming less and less relevant every year. These conferences are not given any prominence in the Israeli Press. Surely this is a barometer of its irrelevance!

Israel’s faults and its treatment of the Arab minorities, not to mention the Palestinians, are not even addressed. This is not their problem. It is the problem of the Arab World according to their thinking.

The greatest contribution that could be made to Israel is also dependent on the contribution made to the wellbeing of the Palestinians. After all the Palestinian People is an integral part of the Middle East, including Israel. They will not disappear. Neglect of the Palestinians will only result in the development of further extremism, hate and terrorism against Israel. Israel had occupied the Palestinian People in the 1967 Six Day War. This makes Israel responsible for Palestinian wellbeing which they neglected. Israel, despite its claims to the contrary, is a “colonial phenomenon” because it occupied another people. It also “colonized” territory by allowing settlers to build their homes in the occupied West Bank. Surely it makes Israel’s claims of not wanting to colonize the Palestinian People a farce. Settlers, amongst them religious Zealots, uproot Palestinian olive plantations, take over Palestinian agricultural lands, and get away with it. Is this Zionism – the usurping of Palestinian lands? The Palestinians view Israelis as the SS (Soldiers and Settlers).

Army check posts, barriers to Palestinian movement as well as army excesses is not going to bring security to Israel. The only solution is an agreement between the two sides to lay down their arms and start negotiating a permanent settlement for the good of both nations.

Zionistic platitudes by rich Diaspora Zionists in conference halls discussing marginal issues to salve their “tortured consciences” will knock the last nail into the Zionist coffin. This will herald the era of post-Zionism or non-Zionism. Zionism is an integral part of Israel’s history but it is irrelevant to Israel’s future and the future of peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbours.

July 30, 2007 · Filed Under Middle East, World news

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Some highlights on Chinese Internet usage

jm_small_55.jpgLess wealthy and educated, with an inclination to IM rather than using email…and huge by the numbers. However, penetration in rural areas still quite slow…

* Mobile Internet will become more and more important, over 44 million users use mobile handsets to access Internet, an increase of 27 million (159%) in last six months.
* Over half of all Internet users(51.2%) are under age 25. The Internet penetration rate for users aged between 18 to 24 is 43.4%. Internet has become their lifestyle, that’s also part of the reasons that QQ and 51.com are so popular in China.
* The percentage of Internet users with high school education or below increased from 48.2% in half year ago to 56.1%. The percentage of users with an income below 1000 yuan increased from 47.6% to 51.7%. You need to understand these group of young users to become leading player in China’s Internet market.
* Over 37% users, increased from 32.3%, access Internet in Internet cafe. It is said that 51.com is very popular among Internet Cafe users
* IM is more important in China than email for communication. More netizens use IM than email (69.8% vs. 55.4%), while over 90% Internet users use email in US. IM usage rate is even higher (74.6%) among users under age 25, while the email usage rate is only 46.6% among them.
* Online entertainment demand is the most important demand among Chinese yougsters(under age 25), with 91.4% of them used online music, 79.6%% used online movies, and 67.1% played online games.

You can read the whole study where these numbers come from here
And this is an interesting comparison between mobile internet penetration in China/Japan:

July 22, 2007 · Filed Under Analysis, Business, Domains, Future, Interesting tidbits, Internet, Marketing, Youth

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A great speech by Bill Gates

temperase7.jpgText of the speech given by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates at Harvard University on June 7, 2007.

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honour. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognised as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I’m a bad influence. That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn’t even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn’t worry about getting up in the morning. That’s how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.

Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success.

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world’s first personal computers. I offered to sell them software.

I worried that they would realise I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: “We’re not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn’t written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege - and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.

But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.

But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries - but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity - reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.

It took me decades to find out.

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how - in this age of accelerating technology - we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause - and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.

During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year - none of them in the United States.

We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren’t being delivered.

If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.”

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”

The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidise it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both.

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism - if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end - because people just … don’t … care.” I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We’re determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”

The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

We don’t read much about these deaths. The media covers what’s new - and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It’s hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help. And so we look away.

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks “How can I help?,” then we can get action - and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares - and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have - whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bed net.

The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand - and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behaviour.

Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working - and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century - which is to surrender to complexity and quit.

The final step - after seeing the problem and finding an approach - is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.

You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.

But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work - so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.

I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person’s life - then multiply that by millions. … Yet this was the most boring panel I’ve ever been on - ever. So boring even I couldn’t bear it.

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software - but why can’t we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

You can’t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that - is a complex question.

Still, I’m optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new - they can help us make the most of our caring - and that’s why the future can be different from the past.

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age - biotechnology, the computer, the Internet - give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: “I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.”

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.

The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem - and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.

At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don’t. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion — smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don’t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organisation, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.

What for?

There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?

Let me make a request of the deans and the professors - the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:

Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?

Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world’s worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty … the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?

Should the world’s most privileged people learn about the lives of the world’s least privileged?

These are not rhetorical questions - you will answer with your policies.

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here - never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given - in talent, privilege, and opportunity - there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue - a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don’t have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.

Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world’s deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Good luck.

July 20, 2007 · Filed Under Business, Future, Interesting tidbits, Recommended, Society

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The story of .mobi and .mobi domainers book FAQ

jm_small_55.jpgThank you for your kind emails and for visiting this page. Here I address some of the questions you have privately asked me. I hope this helps you to decide to be part of the project of the .mobi domainers book.

Can I trust you?
This is up to you. Notice that I said that all the questions I ask are optional. However, if you only give me part of the information, you make it more difficult for me to paint a consistent picture of you to readers.
If you google my name (Javier Marti) you’ll see that I am everywhere, particularly associated to Trendirama and my blog, which is around 4 years old. I am also Trendirama.tv. Basically, I am not going out of the internet anytime soon and have no interest or need to be dishonest with anyone. I am to busy. Not worth my time. If you are in the UK you can also meet me personally. I live in Bristol.
I have domains myself and understand your concerns, but sometimes our concerns make us lose opportunities. In the end of the day, there are only two options about .mobi as we see it today…either the extension makes it big, and in that case you have nothing to worry about since many of you may become very wealthy over time, or the extesion becomes totally irrelevant. Either case, as long as all those domains are registered under your name, you don’t have as much to lose as you think. If you got a few hundred names, you’ve already made your bet. You can hide it if you want, but hey, nobody expects you to be right about .mobi. We are all in the same boat.

How will you handle confidential information?
I shall keep any information you CLEARLY ask me to keep confidential, away from public eyes, until the date you tell me I can release this information.
If you are not comfortable releasing a piece of data, just don’t do it, and we’ll all sleep well tonight. It is not my intention to steal anyone’s information. I am not into that business I am afraid. I am in the business of learning, and sharing what I learn. That’s it.
If you trust me, you trust me. If you don’t, you don’t. It is up to you.
But I understand perfectly the value and concerns you guys may have about this and you can rest assured that as long as you CLEARLY tell me what is confidential…that won’t be included in the book until you say so.
There is a risk though, that you release information too late, the book is almost finished and your info changes things dramatically. In that case you will complicate my life enourmously and I wish you wouldn’t do it. But there is nothing I can do about it.

When will you release the book?
I don’t know even if I’ll release it guys. This depends very much of your participation. So far, I received a few positive emails and replies to the thread, but need a lot more.
You see, in order to write a good book, I need enough background information about you and the whole .mobi scene. I can get information about .mobi’s history, but I can’t get to know you guys if you don’t tell me about you. The human side of the story would be missing.
Then, the more I know, it is “just” a matter of spreading all that information in a big “table” and carefully put all the pieces together to build something that makes sense, flows naturally, and is interesting and informative. (not easy to do, I can assure you)
My original idea is to start making these interviews now, so you can send me your notes and replies, and perhaps release the book a few months after we all have confirmation that .mobi has either a) made it, or b) not made it. I think only then the book will make sense. I am sure you know what I mean…the book should show a contrast, an outcome…in order to be interesting. Something like “these people believed, and this is what happened”. The .mobi story may be ongoing for many years to come, but I need some big events to make the book interesting. And I don’t know when these will happen.
The events will in turn dictate the release date of the book. Suppose that there is a .mobi default from Google in 6 months and we see a huge marketing campaign from the mltd at the same time. People start to talk about .mobi a lot and 6 months later registrations have increased at a rate of XX%. That woul be a good moment to release the book.
Get my drift? But in order to do that, I need you guys to send me info as soon as possible.
(Update 8/07 - Third question: how long will it take?
As I said in the FAQs or the other thread about the book, the book may take anything between 8 months to a year to be released, depending on the events and how busy I am (I am not paid for this and the book may well be free)
However, sudden events that confirm the fate of .mobi in one way or another could well accelerate the release of the book
I am trying to make a good job and I won’t release it until I am satisfied with it. There is a lot of mediocre writing already on the internet, and a lot of misinformation regarding domain names. I don’t want to be part of that.
Suffice to say that I wouldn’t like it to take more than 8 months from now, but it is not a promise.
Regarding how the project is going, I can tell you that I just finished the table of contents (not as simple a task as it seems if you want to make a good book on this subject) and have started a draft to document all the information that I am receiving from different sources and scraps that I have seen in many websites, for later polishing of the text. Let’s say that 20% is done up to now.)


How do you plan on handling royalty distribution among the participants?
It is too early to think about this. First we bake the cake, then we cut the pieces. If there is no book, there is nothing to share. If you guys don’t send me the info, there is nothing to write about. If you do, there are many things we can do. We can do some kind of wiki to document the advance of .mobi even after the book. We can make a second updated edition of the book. We can make the book for free just to spread the word about .mobi. Some of you can co-write a second version with me…who knows?
Nobody knows today. too early to tell. Let’s start by writing the book, and then I think things naturally will develop from there, since I would like to have your opinion guys during the whole writing process.

Will the participants have any editorial controls and or capabilities regarding their own information and contributions to the book?
Not at this point. I am the writer and editor. For confidentiality reasons, it all starts and finishes in my head.
For the moment, many people tell me about themselves, I get a good picture of .mobi domainers, and write about them. Participants will only have the control of what’s printed and what is not, by telling me exactly not to published a certain bit of information. We all assume that you are comfortable with making public all and any other information you send me.

Can I send you new pieces of information as I get to them?
Yes. In order to make a good book, it is important that I know very well what’s going on in the .mobi scene. I am not sure how this will happen, but I am sure you guys will help me with this sending me tips and things I should pay attention to. I’ll do my best but can’t cover absolutely every angle!

When do you want the answers to your questions?
The sooner you reply, the more chances to be featured in the book.

How many domains do I have to have to be featured in the book?
I’d say minimum 200 .mobi domains. That shows that you start to be serious about it and believe in the extension. Also, I may give priority to people who send me their info now, since what’s the point of learning that someone has 10000 domains when I am about to finish the book? They should have talked before.

I know such and such domainer that should be featured in the book, what should I do about it?
I am not going to be chasing people around…I have no time for people playing hard to get. So if they want to be featured, please refer them to the threads in the forum (or copy and paste the original thread message to them) or ask them to contact me. Thank you!


Do you realize Javier, that there are people that will speak badly about your book and yourself?
Yes. It is human nature. People hate losers and hate winners the same. If you have visibility, people will attack you. I count on it and don’t care about it. All my life has been so.
But I don’t have time for negative people, sorry! Those of you who choose to participate…welcome to the club!

Are you doing this to get rich?
No. Intellectual works are a rich subject that I wrote about in the past…
As you may know, the editorial and record industry and distribution systems are changing very rapidly right now, and nobody knows what’s next. I have the impression that anything that can be digitalized, will be pirated, so I may well choose to release the book for FREE. We’ll see about that at the time of release.
I do this mainly because I like to learn (as you can see in my Trendirama.com project), because it’s an interesting challenge for me as a writer, and because I think it will be a really interesting story to tell, and nobody is paying attention to it.

Why exactly are you doing the .mobi book?

Well, there are many reasons:
1) promote .mobi?
2) help to take away the “stigma” associated with domaining in general (domaining = cybersquatting)
3) show the human side of domaining
4) help people tell their little stories (we all have them)
5) create debate around the extension and its future, in which we all learn, respectfully hearing each other’s opinion
6) express my opinion, or rather, my analysis of the situation. I believe some people will find it interesting
7) help increase sales and prices of our domains by showing this world to people, who will in turn become domainers
8) helping to promote .mobi forums (I am a little biased on this one as you may have noticed, as long as people treat me well)


Why do you write this book now?
Because now is the moment. You see, now is when things are happening, now is the time to gather the information. My thinking is that there will be in the next 8 months some events that will either confirm or dethrone completely .mobi, and I would like to tell that story. What would be the point of making a book when everything happened already? I am not into historical books. I study the future, and .mobi seems to be quite part of that future. So I am betting my time and tallent on a project associated with it.

I hope this answers yours and everyone’s questions for the moment. THank you for your interest!


Ok. I read this FAQs but haven’t read the questions…what should I do to participate?
Send me an email to info@trendirama.com telling me a little bit about yourself and I’ll send you the questions.

July 3, 2007 · Filed Under Domains

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