Are .com(s) really worth their value anymore? With so much success with companies using alternative domain extensions, I see the value of a .com dropping sharply in the near future.
I think so. It's still the main domain and probably the only tld that should exist (outside of .org and .gov) to avoid confusion. Even before the most recent additions of tlds .com maintained its dominance with .co, .name, .info, .biz, etc. Personally I would trust an entity with a .com for a given domain name (even over .net). .menu, .uno? Wtf... ridiculous.
I think .com is still worth it for YourCompany.com. But in the case of these short domains like PQIU.com, I think not. Those seem to be more useful for URL shorteners or static asset hosts. In which case, a human being will barely need to remember the domain and any 2-letter TLD will work fine.
"We just checked 456.976 domains with our API"
"I hooked up with 10 chicks last month"
In both cases, no one cares.