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.<p>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.