I disagree. We write left to right, so it makes sense when the URL is essentially two parts ("external" and "internal" in regards to "place on the network", "location on the server") they are written left to right and then separated in the middle.

Plus it would make using autocomplete way harder, since I can write "news.y" and get already suggested this site, or "red" and get reddit. If you were to change that, you'd need to type _at least_ "com.yc" to maybe get HN, unless you create your own shortcuts.

Conveniently enough, my browser displays the URL omitting the protocol (assuming HTTPS) and only shows host and port in black, and path+query+fragment

But the domain name is not written "left to right", is the problem.

As far as autocomplete goes, what you're describing is a behavior of one particular implementation. If URLs looked differently, autocomplete would behave differently as well.

I'm also reminded of https://xkcd.com/1172/