Well, I assumed that anyway, and grabbed a few premium .dev domains (common English words with three or four letters). And as usually happens to domain registrations, my big plans for these domains came to nothing.
Looking around, it doesn't seem like .dev has caught on like one might have imagined. Do you see value in it at this point? Would you use this TLD for a product, or is the old advice of compromising on domain name memorability to get a .com still valid?
It's a great way for a specific niche to get good branding. Getting a .com is absurd these days. If there is a viable, short, and memorable alternative TLD, it is often worth considering.
Do the TLDs hold value? I'm not sure, I think that's a fairly tough argument to make with .com as well.
So there's not really a reason to have a short/catchy .dev domain over a .com or country domain one.
A tech audience in particular is fine with some 1337. And always has been: /. kuro5hin, etc.
For non tech, go with a commonlyacceptedtld.lol