As much fun as it is to post about what a really bad idea something is and leave it at that, I’m going give a short explain on why the .tel TLD gets a reaction from me. .tel means implementing a complex solution for a simple issue: making contact info more accessible.
A really good way to handle contact information is to use microformats. Using the hCard standard makes contact information more accessible with a few extra keystrokes on the front-end.
If you’re a little fuzzy on what a microformat actually is, you’re in the majority. The story goes that microformats are an evolving set of open design principles for data formats. Think of them (in implementation) as standardized tag attributes and classes that create specific labels for data.
An example use for microformats would be to apply these standards to event postings on your site. Because each field within your data is tagged with a standardized label, visitors and machines can both easily read them. Applications can auto-discover new events; postings can be automatically imported; and data can be effectively republished. Easy, modular, decentralized.
Welcome to the revolution. No TLD necessary.
2 Responses to “Proper geeks would use microformats”
You’re right Aaron, .tel is completely unnecessary. hCard (or vCard for that matter) has already solved the problem of publishing contact information on the web in easy to publish and easy to consume fashion.
Thanks for dropping by Tantek.