Domain Name Addiction

I collect short, interesting, and esoteric domain names.

I acquired my first domain name in 2003. It was a straightforward .com hand registration of my first and last name. It seemed a little presumptuous, but I learned how to do it.

After that, it became fun to look and see which names were available. The process was:

1. Think of a domain name that’s interesting
2. Try to register it to see if it’s available

The next step in my journey was learning about expired domain names. You could bid on these in the same way you could bid on something on eBay. This was much more satisfying:

1. Look through the expired domain listings
2. Bid on anything that seems interesting

The best part about this is I’m benefiting from others’ original effort. They came up with an idea, registered it, and let it lapse.

Instead of having to think of things open-ended, I can now look at other people’s work and see if it strikes me as something I’m interested in.

Even when I don’t decide to pursue something, looking through the domain names and imagining what they could be provides a creative pleasure.