THE PERFECT BABY GIFT: A DOMAIN NAME

From the reception I received when broaching this subject with my friends, I guess most of you will think I'm foolish on reading the title of this article. Domain names as baby gifts? Whoever heard of such a crazy thing! It may sound particularly ridiculous to those of you lucky enough to be of my generation. What generation is that, you might ask? Well, an old one: I beat the first Boomers to their cribs by several months.

Later Boomers, and those of Generation X and Y don't laugh as loudly at the idea of domain names as baby gifts, but maybe they are simply respecting my advanced years. Gen Z, also known as the millennials, think it's a great idea, but as of this date the oldest millennial hasn't yet had his tenth birthday; they can't act on it.

Ok, if you're over your first guffaws, let's take another look at the idea of domain names as baby gifts. Think about it: what is silly about an inexpensive, one-of-a-kind gift for newborns that they will use throughout their lives?

Everybody gives clothing. The baby outgrows it as fast as you buy it. Besides, who is the clothing really for, the baby or the parents? How many people do you know that display their bronzed baby shoes? Give that child a domain name with the personal email that accompanies it as a baby gift, and the older they get the more valuable this gift will become. You think I'm crazy? Well, JohnSmith dot-com cost some lucky guy less than ten bucks and now it's estimated worth is $5,000! I'll bet our John Smith won't get anywhere near that much for his bronzed shoes.

But money is beside the point. We all know most domains will not appreciate 500-fold. What we can count on is their continued usefulness; since email has all but replaced snail-mail, a child's email address is probably more important than their street address.

So what, you say! The kid can get an email address for free later. You're right. How does:JohnSmith234567atgoogle dot-com sound? Who among his friends and acquaintances over the years is going to remember that? JohnSmith dot-com,however will always get his mail. Which brings us to another issue.

The easily remembered domains are disappearing fast. People buy them by the tens of millions a year. The New York Times relates that someone purchased the "com" for Britney Spear's son before she could. JohnSmith dot-com>, for example was purchased by someone other than John Smith hoping to sell it to John for lots more later. But that still leaves JohnSmith dot-In and JohnSmith dot-Ws. Dot-In stands for India and Dot-Ws for Samoa. Both perfectly viable, legitimate domains under the direction of IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) which is an instrumentality of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), originally developed under the direction of the United States Congress.

If you are still laughing at the idea of domains as baby gifts, I won't take it personally. Buy all the clothes and fuzzy animals you want; a domain name is something you will be remembered for long after those clothes and cute stuffies are sold again at garage sale.

If you found this article worthwhile, please visit Mike Nardine at Cheap Mike's Domains. Check out his prices on cheap domain names.