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X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

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Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#151
post #103

But of a tangent, but: every time I see a link to an X post, I’m finding it increasingly weird that the Twitter -> X rename happened with a big splash some time ago now, but the actual x.com domain is still redirecting to twitter.com rather than the other way around.

How many ways can things can go hilariously wrong if they try to properly switch it over to x.com?

Until then calling it "twitter dot com" is still accurate.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#152
post #120

I worked at Network Solutions more than 20 years ago (before the Verisign merger) and the lore they shared with me was that when the Domain Name System was first created they didn’t know if it would scale and reserved the single-letter domains (except the few that had already been registered) in case they needed to partition the namespace – like putting Microsoft under .m.i.com or maybe .f.t.com

Nearly every single letter .com was registered by an Jon Postel who didn't want corporations to own the commercial rights to single letters.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#153
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People just google “bob builder” anyway. Today they do. When a domain was $200 to register in the 90’s, people treated URLs like phone numbers were also treated at the time - to be written down, memorized and then typed precisely in (with slashes!) to find whatever Bob the builder was offering. It’s odd to me tbh that phone numbers were solved with contact lists and address books, along with the occasional “new pho…

> It’s odd to me tbh that phone numbers were solved with contact lists and address books What's odd about that? I didn't really understand your comment.

I can email mike@somedomain.com but I can't "call" or "text" mike@somedomain.com . You can kinda sorta see this now with imessage / facetime, but that's not consistent and implemented in a standard protocol.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#154
post #127
post #103

But of a tangent, but: every time I see a link to an X post, I’m finding it increasingly weird that the Twitter -> X rename happened with a big splash some time ago now, but the actual x.com domain is still redirecting to twitter.com rather than the other way around.

I'm surprised to see so many people and newspapers humouring Musk and obeying his name change when many pages on twitter.com still call it twitter. It's still Twitter. There's no need to call it X unless you want to want to do free advertising for Musk's name change.

Most media I've seen says "posted to X (formerly Twitter)". So they still feel that the brand is not strong enough to not explain what it used to be.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#155
post #139
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lmao. I would love to have been a fly on the wall "We need a new company name!" "Alphabet!" "YES EXACTLY!"

> In a 2018 talk, Schmidt disclosed that the original inspiration for the name came from the location of the then Google Hamburg office's street address: ABC-Straße. From Wikipedia about alphabet Inc

What! Well that deflates my entire theory

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#156
post #127
post #103

But of a tangent, but: every time I see a link to an X post, I’m finding it increasingly weird that the Twitter -> X rename happened with a big splash some time ago now, but the actual x.com domain is still redirecting to twitter.com rather than the other way around.

I'm surprised to see so many people and newspapers humouring Musk and obeying his name change when many pages on twitter.com still call it twitter. It's still Twitter. There's no need to call it X unless you want to want to do free advertising for Musk's name change.

I’m not so sure. Time marches on. There was a time in Toronto when everyone called it the Skydome and said it always would be.

Nowadays kids only know it as the Rogers Centre and may have only heard Skydome from their parents. If X/Twitter is still around in 10 years (I’m pretty 50/50 on those odds) then I think it’ll be known officially and colloquially as X, not Twitter.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#157
post #5

One letter domains has the same issue as many of the gTLDs, they aren't particularly useful in terms of brand recognition. X.com is pretty stupid as well, you can't meaningfully use it as a brand. Take bob.builders, it's a perfectly valid domain, but if you see it on the back of a van, even if it's www.bob.builders, it's not recognizably as a website. www.b.com has the exact same problem, even x.com / www.x.com is ju…

> but if you see it on the back of a van, even if it's www.bob.builders, it's not recognizably as a website

My email address is first@last.me - I now automatically say "no .com" or similar. Too many CS experiences where "we can't find your email address" "try first@last.me.com" "Oh, there it is".

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#158
post #127
post #103

But of a tangent, but: every time I see a link to an X post, I’m finding it increasingly weird that the Twitter -> X rename happened with a big splash some time ago now, but the actual x.com domain is still redirecting to twitter.com rather than the other way around.

I'm surprised to see so many people and newspapers humouring Musk and obeying his name change when many pages on twitter.com still call it twitter. It's still Twitter. There's no need to call it X unless you want to want to do free advertising for Musk's name change.

I use "Twitter/X" because if you just say "X" no one knows what the heck you are talking about.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#159
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think he's smart? Maybe he did it for the lol's, or to own his political opponents, or maybe it was just a mistake he locked himself into. All of which sound just like him. Rockets don't fly and electric cars don't drive if they aren't built right, which puts a floor on the IQ of the man who is that involved and hands-on with it. Being early in a major startup is a big deal, never mind a whole string of the…

> Rockets don't fly and electric cars don't drive if they aren't built right, which puts a floor on the IQ of the man who is that involved and hands-on with it Agree! So what does it have to do with Musk? Also, I really wouldn’t call someone smart who literally forced himself into buying a company out of ego for much more than its worth. I wouldn’t call someone smart who did that with a car or whatever, let alone tha…

It's wild that you think he had no positive input with any of his successful technical startups.

Have you considered that x.com might have been an impulse buy (at the market rate, I might add). He could set $40b on fire and still be one of the richest people in history.

I also don't get the hate around that site - it's still very much up and running.

Maybe this site hates him because he trimmed a ton of fat in Twitter's engineering department. Maybe people on the left hate him because he's living proof that some people are just competent. People on the right used to hate him because he's anti-oil. Maybe the tallest trees just catch the most wind.

Re: X.com is Twitter, but what are [a-z].com?

#160
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was plenty of shit there, but it was the best way to get real-time updates on big news events, as plenty official accounts used it as their primary site.

I don’t think this has changed much, it’s still the best place to get real time updates.

Is it? Live streaming got more popular and is supported by major platforms; discord and related communities are more accessible; the pandemic taught everyone group chats and video calls; the list goes on.
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