I have been collecting domain names pretty much since I had knew there was an opportunity to do so, starting in 1996. It’s been a mild and inexpensive hobby to maintain, and I don’t do to make money, sit on domains, or for speculation. Rather, there’s something simply wonderful about owning one of the most “physical” aspects of the Internet, which is a domain. All of the other features of the Net, including email, hosting and even access are simply temporary, non-exclusive properties that, though democratic, don’t hold inherent value. These are essentially commodities, like orange juice or bread that you can use, dispose of, and buy again.
With domain names, on the other hand, one owns a digitally sophisticated lock on a given, agreed-upon series of letters and numbers (and, occasionally, hyphens) that is registered worldwide and, inexpensively, creates a microcosm for a website or a potential website. It’s powerful stuff.
Tonight, after much searching, I purchased two domains this evening that make use of the word “acme.” I’ve long desired to own a piece of the “acme” pie, which was popularized by Warner Bros. wonderfully irreverent Road Runner cartoons. Since then, hundreds of parodic and real Acme corporations have risen and I plan on doing the same (the Wikipedia entry notes that “Acme” stands for ‘A Company that Makes Everything’, which is news to me.) One kind soul even went to the trouble of grouping the fictional Acme Co.’s products on a site. Note that while his catalogue is great, his domain name—http://home.nc.rr.com/tuco/looney/acme/acme.html—stinks.