direct navigation isn't really dead at all. As someone who has been involved in buying domains for 7 years, I can attest it still exists. However, this is only true of your real generics. Anything you hand register today won't be a type in, far from it.
Furthermore, there is always a tradeoff between generic/brandable. A few large companies have gotten away with the generic (Hotels.com for example) but most take the brand route because in the long run there is more value/protection. You need to decide based on your goals and timeframe.
Comments
direct navigation isn't really dead at all. As someone who has been involved in buying domains for 7 years, I can attest it still exists. However, this is only true of your real generics. Anything you hand register today won't be a type in, far from it.
Furthermore, there is always a tradeoff between generic/brandable. A few large companies have gotten away with the generic (Hotels.com for example) but most take the brand route because in the long run there is more value/protection. You need to decide based on your goals and timeframe.