I personally feel they should keep the sharethebus.com brand.
The opening of the TechCrunch article states "It’s actually a pretty great URL: Bus.com. It’s also a much better brand identity than Sharethebus ..." - however they don't say why it is a much better brand identity.
Simply being a 3-letter domain doesn't make for a better brand identity. They have traction and funding, so it they may not see much of an impact because it is still a utility... but how would you react to seeing a promotion relating to a festival talking about "Bus.com" or "Sharethebus.com" - which one gives you a feeling of something more than a utility?
After the free expose on HN, I like the three letter domain.
Didn't know a bit about the company until now.
I do wonder what they paid for the domain? I could almost picture the negotiations, 'Hay--because of Google, the price of three letter domains just arn't worth what they once were. So--here's--$50,000?'.
I love the picture in the article. So wholesome. Where I live, these busses are rented out by rich kids. They party heavily on them. Which is better than the way I partied. Driving around with a jug of wine on the back of a mustang that didn't have a front bumper, nor grill. I just got lucky so many Friday nights.
haha - yes, our service is generally pretty wholesome. Sounds like you had an interesting experience with buses growing up.
Where were you raised?
Certainly, the value of the domain was part of the conversation, but generally domain brokers still push the value of TLDs like this (obviously to their benefit).
The opening of the TechCrunch article states "It’s actually a pretty great URL: Bus.com. It’s also a much better brand identity than Sharethebus ..." - however they don't say why it is a much better brand identity.
Simply being a 3-letter domain doesn't make for a better brand identity. They have traction and funding, so it they may not see much of an impact because it is still a utility... but how would you react to seeing a promotion relating to a festival talking about "Bus.com" or "Sharethebus.com" - which one gives you a feeling of something more than a utility?