HELL NO for Indian IDNs

[kartik786]

I just went thru the blunders made by everyone here by purchasing hindi domain names.

Let me tell you why.

First of all, there is no operating system which serves hindi. If there is no one is aware of it .

Millions of people living in metro cities and even some affluent high income families in India dont own a pc , and if they do, they dont have a internet connection.

If they do have a internet connection or a pc, its quite obvious that they will be having a good knowledge of ENGLISH language and they would waste time searching on google for hindi names.

Villagers seldom have computers. Only the LEET to be specific and even those have keyboards with english characters. It would be a pain in the neck just to learn how to type a word in hindi from a english character keyboard.

I stay in Mumbai, which is one of the best cities in India and is also known as business hub.

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

PS : These are just my views and you might want to laugh on it.. but its what I feel as an indian.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by kartik786

I just went thru the blunders made by everyone here by purchasing hindi domain names.

Let me tell you why.

First of all, there is no operating system which serves hindi. If there is no one is aware of it .

Millions of people living in metro cities and even some affluent high income families in India dont own a pc , and if they do, they dont have a internet connection.

If they do have a internet connection or a pc, its quite obvious that they will be having a good knowledge of ENGLISH language and they would waste time searching on google for hindi names.

Villagers seldom have computers. Only the LEET to be specific and even those have keyboards with english characters. It would be a pain in the neck just to learn how to type a word in hindi from a english character keyboard.

I stay in Mumbai, which is one of the best cities in India and is also known as business hub.

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

PS : These are just my views and you might want to laugh on it.. but its what I feel as an indian.

Well you may win or you may loose on Hindi. The stuff you have shown us so far aren't worth reg fee and never will be.

[IDNCowboy]

Originally Posted by kartik786

I just went thru the blunders made by everyone here by purchasing hindi domain names.

Let me tell you why.

First of all, there is no operating system which serves hindi. If there is no one is aware of it .

Millions of people living in metro cities and even some affluent high income families in India dont own a pc , and if they do, they dont have a internet connection.

If they do have a internet connection or a pc, its quite obvious that they will be having a good knowledge of ENGLISH language and they would waste time searching on google for hindi names.

Villagers seldom have computers. Only the LEET to be specific and even those have keyboards with english characters. It would be a pain in the neck just to learn how to type a word in hindi from a english character keyboard.

I stay in Mumbai, which is one of the best cities in India and is also known as business hub.

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

PS : These are just my views and you might want to laugh on it.. but its what I feel as an indian.

I don't think you've studied the U.S. market either... It is good to research before jumping in and regging.

Sorry but your domains aren't even worth reg fee.

[Rubber Duck]

I suspect he will be on here as early as next week trying to flip a few Hindi!

Probably just another of those complex strategies we keep hearing about

[Olney]

This is a discussion
& he stated it's HIS opinion...
Perhaps he can inform us more about India...

Most are investing for long term...

I work with Programmers in India & though many have computers.

You don't think this generalization will change in the next 5 to 10 years?

I don't think those investing are looking for immediate changes...

[IDNCowboy]

Originally Posted by Olney

This is a discussion
& he stated it's HIS opinion...
Perhaps he can inform us more about India...

Most are investing for long term...

I work with Programmers in India & though many have computers.

You don't think this generalization will change in the next 5 to 10 years?

I don't think those investing are looking for immediate changes...

Hi Olney,

We stated our opinion about his domains for the U.S. market.
I've also done business with many people in India.. It seems that according to them many ppl there are starting to get connected.

[gammascalper]

Originally Posted by kartik786

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

You may think they're crap, but many others do not. That's what's important.

If you find good or great Hindi IDN, there will be people interested in them. Sell them or trade them for IDN in markets that you do think have promise.

[IDNCowboy]

domenforum claimed a while back that Russian IDNs are worthless so he could register more IDNs while we weren't looking

People native to Japan have also said IDNs are garbage.....

so there never seems to be 100% approval.

[blastfromthepast]

Originally Posted by kartik786

I stay in Mumbai, which is one of the best cities in India and is also known as business hub.

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

No problem. I own Mumbai.com in almost every other Indian language, except Hindi.

[drbiohealth]

There is absolutely nothing new is your message. What you mention here has all been discussed before on this forum and elsewhere n-times. It amazes me that you are not even aware that MS OS is now available in all major Indian languages including Hindi. Typing any Indian language is not a problem, check out http://www.baraha.com/ . You don't seem to sense the trend which can be your best friend .. .

They say, greater the uncertainty higher are the stakes/returns. And that's precisely because of uncertainty that you still have "good though not tier I" Indic names available. Go to English domain market (with negligible uncertainty and tested model) and tell me how many even mediocre domains are still available there.

Here is something from a recent news item,

The starting point of this initiative is that people in India prefer to use their own language for computing.

Raman: For most of the people living in rural areas, the first issue is that they don't have Internet connectivity. Even if connectivity does improve, and people are able to get on the Internet, the basic problem they would still face is using the computer, because the applications would be in English. We thought that if we could make some basic tools like the browser available in the local language, people will start using this software without having to learn a new language. English is used by only about 5 percent of people in the country, and if we want people to start using computers, we can't expect them to go learn English. So there is a huge market out there for computing in local languages, which is why Microsoft is offering Indian-language versions of their products.

http://www.pcwelt.de/news/englishnews/114859/
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/28/stor...2818160900.htm
http://www.itnewsonline.com/showstor...tid=8&contid=1

Originally Posted by kartik786

I just went thru the blunders made by everyone here by purchasing hindi domain names.

Let me tell you why.

First of all, there is no operating system which serves hindi. If there is no one is aware of it .

Millions of people living in metro cities and even some affluent high income families in India dont own a pc , and if they do, they dont have a internet connection.

If they do have a internet connection or a pc, its quite obvious that they will be having a good knowledge of ENGLISH language and they would waste time searching on google for hindi names.

Villagers seldom have computers. Only the LEET to be specific and even those have keyboards with english characters. It would be a pain in the neck just to learn how to type a word in hindi from a english character keyboard.

I stay in Mumbai, which is one of the best cities in India and is also known as business hub.

Trust me guys, dont waste you money on these Hindi IDN's .

PS : These are just my views and you might want to laugh on it.. but its what I feel as an indian.

[kartik786]

It was a advice.. take it or leave it ...

If my domains are worth reg fee or no totally depends on how well you can do with it . You might have said that 500words.com is a crap domain but it made the owner millions .

Newayz, its just my opinion that a villager will never use a native OS or a keyboard in his native language because the whole education system is in english in cities . Unfortunately, in villages where people " might " want to have such computers and keyboards, their per capita income does not allow them to buy proper food, forget about computers.

Aah well.. those who have already invested will keep looking for a silver lining.

But I do hope that the newbies who dont even know anything about Hindi do some research and stay away from it

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by kartik786

It was a advice.. take it or leave it ...

Thanks for posting your opinion. It gives everyone a chance to step back and reevaluate their positions and in what markets they are 'speculating' on idns. Be interesting to see what happens in India over the next 3- 5 years. Many people have already held their idns 7 years, so this is not a new thing.

Do keep in mind that there are very inexpensive laptops (about $100) coming onto market starting next year, and will eventually reach out to rural areas around the world. Maybe individuals cannot afford to own them, but perhaps will take access at internet cafes, shops, or other public places. I think people will like to see URLS in native scripts. They will be good attention getters, directly accessable by IE7. Advertising agencies will certainly gave much fun (maybe selfi$hly) advertising them on behalf of their clients. Many indiviuals in India may want to "reserve" their personal favorite too.

[Prodigy]

We're standing at a pivotal point where the net will be changed for the better, forever. Don't say that simply because the infrastrucutre currently doesnt exist, that IDNs will never take off. It's short-sighted to the point of ignorance.

There's a solution to allow the internet to finally become a truly global mechanism and you are saying that one of the world's fastest growing economies will give it a pass? Market dynamics and my fat wallet say you're wrong.

I don't own anything in Hindi or Punjabi, but market dynamics and consumer demand say that this is a natural progression. Maybe you'll sit on your Indian IDNs a little longer, but I would definitely wait another 1-2 years and pay miniscule reg fees to put 1-2 million in my pocket.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by kartik786

It was a advice.. take it or leave it ...

If my domains are worth reg fee or no totally depends on how well you can do with it . You might have said that 500words.com is a crap domain but it made the owner millions .

Newayz, its just my opinion that a villager will never use a native OS or a keyboard in his native language because the whole education system is in english in cities . Unfortunately, in villages where people " might " want to have such computers and keyboards, their per capita income does not allow them to buy proper food, forget about computers.

Aah well.. those who have already invested will keep looking for a silver lining.

But I do hope that the newbies who dont even know anything about Hindi do some research and stay away from it

Well it is difficult to square your reasoning with the number of Hindi web pages already in existence. If you search on समाचार, Google gives 885,000 results. If what your saying is correct that either means Google is imaging the whole thing or these pages must have been created by Space Aliens for Space Aliens.

It is not just Hindi:

કામ (Gurjarati) 13,100

ಸುದ್ದಿ (Kannada) 57,800

দান (Bangla) 91,900

தேடல் (Tamil) 195,000

ਖਾਤਾ (Punjabi) 41,900

[drbiohealth]

That's a typical statement from a person staying in a big city like Mumbai.

You would be astonished to hear that the real affluence is under progression not in big Indian cities but smaller ones.

According to a survey conducted a year back by a leading hindi newspapers (I don't remember where I had posted): rate of rise in demand of consumer items like credit cards, cars, etc was heavily skewed in favor of smaller Indian cities.

You sound more like a short term trader from whose perspective what you say may be correct. However, I personally wouldn't budge before 3-5 yrs.

Let's do some calculations for worst case scenario,

Let's say you buy 100 IDNs for 5 years -> your cost 100x7x5 =$3500=Rs 175000. Cmon' that a pittance for what you could potentially get in returns. Moreover, losing this much amount also will not bankrupt you! So, what's the crib?

Dave, your समाचार is a killer..

[quote=kartik786]
Unfortunately, in villages where people " might " want to have such computers and keyboards, their per capita income does not allow them to buy proper food, forget about computers.
[/quote]

[Rubber Duck]

Well it might be sour grapes, but that is the point. For India at least it is not yet too late, particularly for someone with local language skills. Even if you were not a long-term investor, there is probably a gap in the market for a Hindi flipper.

[261275]

IMO and i think most will agree that hindi is one of the more long term languages,
as i am not a native or in anyway claim to know much of the indian market i can only say after visiting india in places that are not considered major cities i.e dahrhamsala,rishikesh,manali - in everyone of these cities there is at least 1 internet cafe where the locals go to use the internet and with time more and more will have access from they're homes (the only place they had hindi on they're machines is there - obviously there is a need)

Also, India has 1,095,351,995 (July 2006 est.) people.
even if you take 5% (just over 50 million) it still is more then some other languages that most agree are valuable and bring some traffic today even.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by 261275

IMO and i think most will agree that hindi is one of the more long term languages,
as i am not a native or in anyway claim to know much of the indian market i can only say after visiting india in places that are not considered major cities i.e dahrhamsala,rishikesh,manali - in everyone of these cities there is at least 1 internet cafe where the locals go to use the internet and with time more and more will have access from they're homes (the only place they had hindi on they're machines is there - obviously there is a need)

Also, India has 1,095,351,995 (July 2006 est.) people.
even if you take 5% (just over 50 million) it still is more then some other languages that most agree are valuable and bring some traffic today even.

To clarify, although there is traffic, none of it seems to be currently locally based.

There also appear to be no Google Adwords at present, so even if traffic were available you could not actually monetize it. However, roll the clock back six months and the rest of the World was in much the same boat.

If you have only been in this game a short time it is difficult to appreciate the ever increasing momentum in the IDN market. A year ago we were still in the Glacial Period. Now IDN is slow moving express engine that is still building up a head of steam. By this time next month, you will hear three peeps on the whistle.

Yes, Hind probably is the guard's van at the back.

[kartik786]

It would be really good if you visited some yahoo chat rooms of india.

When i visit a chat room in china or taiwan.. people usually write in their language.. whereas visit a chat room for any specific region of india.. be it delhi mumbai or gujrat.. you guys dont see anyone chatting in the hindi language...

Love.com can be " Pyaar.com " in hindi .. and a india might search for " PYAAR " than using the regional language keyboard.

And there might be headlines in newspapers speculating on new technology and HINDI keyboards and blah blah.. but people down here know that no company uses a regional language to communicate formally.. and no company would even think of having such keyboards.... The march for india is towards globalisation and english centric communications rather than the local languages...

This is just to give you a insight and you still might hold on to your opinion and I dont actually care if the ones who have already invested in think of it as a " NOT NEEDED Advice " ... The message is just for the newbies and localites who might think its a great opportunity and try to grab domains and then end up like that chinese student with no money for college education.

[touchring]

Originally Posted by kartik786

It would be really good if you visited some yahoo chat rooms of india.

When i visit a chat room in china or taiwan.. people usually write in their language.. whereas visit a chat room for any specific region of india.. be it delhi mumbai or gujrat.. you guys dont see anyone chatting in the hindi language...

Love.com can be " Pyaar.com " in hindi .. and a india might search for " PYAAR " than using the regional language keyboard.

And there might be headlines in newspapers speculating on new technology and HINDI keyboards and blah blah.. but people down here know that no company uses a regional language to communicate formally.. and no company would even think of having such keyboards.... The march for india is towards globalisation and english centric communications rather than the local languages...

This is just to give you a insight and you still might hold on to your opinion and I dont actually care if the ones who have already invested in think of it as a " NOT NEEDED Advice " ... The message is just for the newbies and localites who might think its a great opportunity and try to grab domains and then end up like that chinese student with no money for college education.

We understand your message. All this is about gambling. People buy lottery all the time with 0.00001% chance of winning - but chances are much higher with IDNs. All newbies enter the IDN market with the knowledge that they may lose the gamble.

Here, people are betting that India's "englishlisation" will reverse and people will start to type in mother tongue. It could well happen in the future, no one can predict for sure if it won't happen. For all you know, with China taking over the world's manufacturing infrastructure, in 50 years, people everywhere will be learning chinese instead of english, the same with India.