> > > 3) Who type un-shortened URLs any more? > > I'm looking for responses that solve this rather than dismiss Intuitive > URLs. >
The question is what the use case you're trying to solve looks like. Is the goal typability because it's hand transcribed from a business card, knowing what the link connects to without following it, identification, search engine optimization, something else, a combination of these things, etc? Hand typed URLs that are not copied and pasted need to be short and not look like gibberish. Transliteration schemes not known to people typing them confuse rather than help. Whatever route you take, you'll be optimizing one or more objectives at the expense of something else. kyle