Interviewing so many end users, a couple of things have come to my attention. First there are some people out there with a great understanding of the power of domain names. Second, there are way more people that still reference "www" in their domain names in normal conversation and in business than I would have expected. There's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but it just seems a little out dated to me. More of a personal preference.
I can remember television commercials in the 90's and early 00's that would reference "http://" as part of the full name. The announcer would rattle off "h-t-t-p colon forward slash forward slash w-w-w...." Thankfully we have moved away from that, but people are still vocalizing the "www" when it's just not necessary. Sure, some people include that as part of their domain name in many cases. I still come across the occasional site that doesn't load without the "www" and I think that's a poor decision.
In my opinion, referencing www is like sort of like announcing the "1" in front of a phone number. Not really a big deal, but not necessary. Technology, particularly the Internet, moves fast. It's important to keep up with things so you don't come across as technically challenged. I realize this post is shorter than normal, but my acoustic coupler modem, picture below, is acting up.
