Ask HN: Are .io domains out of style? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Are .io domains out of style?

5 pointsshp0ngle7 comments

Today, I noticed that draw.io - my favorite diagram tool - changed its name to diagrams.net.

Is the .io wave of 2016-ish already gone? The only .io domain I use often is github.io, but that isn’t even their main domain.

Was .io a fad and did it already pass?

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draw.io made it clear why they changed: They have ethical concerns with how the .io domain is owned, and security issues with how it is managed: https://www.diagrams.net/blog/move-diagrams-net

I think there's been a few .io registry issues over the years that have lead people to reconsider using .io as part of business critical infrastructure. I think it's not really gone out of style yet though. I imagine some of the new gTLDs will start to take precedence over .io like .app and .dev, and a lot of people will just go back to the venerable .com.

How does each country register with ICANN? Or do they assign the domain themselves?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code_top-level_domain states that IANA (part of ICANN) is responsible for determining the correct steward for each ccTLD.

I imagine a new country would submit a request to IANA for an assignment?

I think what happened to the popularity of .io domains could.. maybe.. be called a fad. I think that doesn't dig deep enough. It came on the scene and was popular with technical services and startups because it sounded techy and cool and short names were available.

When I did personal research about domain names I found people in the US are familiar with .com first, .org second, and everything else is a distant 3rd. While I'm cherry-picking an old quote from a PG essay [1], the stat he provides is pretty interesting. It really drives home how important owning a .com is for easy discoverability of your online presence.

All of this is in addition to the ethical and security issues the posted above listed.

Quote > 100% of the top 20 YC companies by valuation have the .com of their name. 94% of the top 50 do. But only 66% of companies in the current batch have the .com of their name. Which suggests there are lessons ahead for most of the rest, one way or another.

[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/name.html

I see a lot more .co than .io now. I prefer to go with a .com and compromise on name.

I would say the .ly domain may have been a fad. The high cost of the domain likely was because of the countries origin - Libya. .io is assigned to the British Indian Ocean.

diagrams.io is taken..probably squatted..it was likely very expensive. diagrams.co seems to be $10,000. diagrams.com is $20,000 at least.

The hip domain is .so Somalia

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