According to some research from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), and reported on Lost in the Magic Forest, companies in SL see strategic advantages to being here.
They surveyed all the Dutch companies in SL, and found that the companies experienced "first mover advantage" and an increase in innovation. After this, improved contact and communication is the main advantage - with the companies seeing avatars as the new market to reach.
More interestingly, many of the companies had jumped in with both feet, and were exploring SL eagerly, rather than the toe dipping we've seen from many others - IBM being another notable "jump right in" group who are still here and thriving. Perhaps that's something we should consider adding to Mitch Wagner's 5 things to make your business succeed list?
Welcome to the fifteenth episode of On the Inside, Second Life Insider's Official Podcast!
This episode features our interview with Mitch Wagner, writer and blogger for Information Weekly. Intellagirl Tully co-hosts with me, and we talk about Twitter, voice, and kneading invisible beasts. As always, feel free to leave your questions and comments!
Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to On the Inside directly in iTunes (MP3) [RSS] Add the SLI Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically [Mp3] Download the MP3 directly
Courtesy of the indomitable Mitch Wagner, we get an idea of what the near future of SL will look like -- or at least, what's being planned.
One of the bigger proposals involves upgrading LL's server structure to accommodate 400,000 concurrent users, rather than the current cap of nearly 50,000 we see today.
What's more interesting to me personally, is the idea of being able to IM residents from outside of SL. There are simply times when you need to speak with someone you know is logged in, but you can't get there yourself. Greater interoperability with the 'Net will help communications in a wide variety of ways. For other bits to anticipate, go check out the rest of the article and say Yea or Nay as your nature dictates.
The splendiferous Mitch Wagner has written a great little piece on building in SL for the first time. This should be required reading for anyone just starting out. It's a good one, and worth checking out, but there's a bit in there unrelated to building that made me think.
Mitch mentions the idea of clutter in SL being something that you don't clean up, you acquire. On the surface, this idea is simple and obvious; a means to an end. However, beneath it lies a group of assumptions that bear watching. At what point is detail necessary to develop the proper verisimilitude? How much is too much? Can it ever be faked to the extent that it's no longer noticed as an affectation? It's at this point I go completely literary-wonk, and quote a favorite band of mine: Going through people's closet shelves/To see if it's what we hide ourselves
The inestimable Mitch Wagner reports on his recent interview with Philip, where they spoke on topics such as identity, anonymity, and compliance with the law. I love interviews like this because they get me thinking (as opposed to the simple stimulus/response behavior that I, as a single-celled organism, typically exhibit). In the spirit of this, then, I'd like to offer my thoughts on the printed exchange between Mitch and Philip.
"The ability to increase communication between people and so improve the world is what motivates us as. It's why we all come to work," says Philip. And yet, the best intercommunication comes either in the form of Forum debates, which typically take the form of a user's rant or screed, and then another user's response to that; or, the Town Hall Meetings, which amount to "Here's what we're doing. Questions?" and then a one question/one answer event occurs.
The wonderful Mitch Wagner reports that although LL implied voice chat to be enabled today, it's official: you won't be hearing each other talk for another few months.
According to LL: "Linden Lab's plan is to continue to develop additional voice features on the beta grid for a few weeks still." Without telling us what these additional features are, however, just brings up a mess of concerns, among which are: is LL pushing this back at the last moment because it's just not ready yet, or is it some kind of strange stall tactic? It seems odd that they would take so long to tell us that today's the day, only to pull out at literally the last minute, especially when so many people have reported favorably on the voice chat feature on the Beta Grid. So what's up, LL?
It took long enough, but Microsoft has now officially developed a presence in SL with the help of Millions of Us. On Thursday, May 10th, at 6 PM SL Time, we'll see the unveiling of Visual Studio Island, which I presume is all about the Visual Studio set of applications.
As you can see by the photo, the island is action-oriented, with areas on the map declaring 'challenge', 'leaderboard', and, uh ... 'blimp mooring'. Is there something in the blimp? We'll have to wait and see, but my hope is cookies. Lots of cookies.
At this point, I'm ready to call Mitch Wagner SLI's honorary member, I link to him so much. But he consistently provides engaging, non-condescending, embedded coverage of SL, so I'm likely to continue to link to him. To wit: some thoughts and observations on what constitutes proper business attire in SL.
I have to admit that while I have seen some outrageous and amazingly detailed avatars, I'm always slightly more impressed by those which attempt to mirror the resident's RL self. I once tried for an hour to make my human avatar look like myself, and finally had to give up; I later cozened Morrisa Aleixandre to do it for me, and she did a fabulous job. But I digress.
I always like to see the media playing nice with SL. So it's with happiness that I direct you to this article, by Information Week's Mitch Wagner (Ziggy Figaro in SL).
I have to hand it to someone who goes out of their way to enumerate the enjoyable pursuits available to residents just to prove to naysayers that there's more to SL than what their presuppositions dictate. Certainly, there are quite a few more items he can add to his list, and in fact he welcomes feedback and invites everyone to leave him your picks for places and events to add to this list. At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, I'll say thanks, Mitch! This is the kind of thing we need more of!
I should really be smacked on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper for that headline, but ehnh, what're you gonna do? Mitch Wagner at InformationWeek reports on what he calls (and I must agree) a 'pretty lame' griefing attack on Toyota's Scion City.
By the time I got there, the missiles were gone, but hovering outside was this attack helicopter. Coincidence? Hmmm ...
Mitch Wagner of InformationWeekly has written an article which poses the question "Are virtual Worlds really the Next Internet?" One chief proponent of the 'yes they are' theory is the article's other focus, Corey Bridges, co-founder of MDC Multiverse Network, perhaps most famous for its announcement to create a Firefly MMOG.
Bridges' main point appears to be that the current generation, growing up as it is playing World of Warcraft and enjoying their Second Lives, will come to think of a 3D Internet as the Next Thing simply because they expect that it will be. Given that a percentage of these users will likely go on to develop applications for such a platform virtually guarantees such a vision.
At the same time, take a look at the money and time that big companies like IBM and Cisco are investing in SL alone, and it seems pretty clear that we're headed toward the next wave of Internet browsing standards. VRML, anyone?
According to some research from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), and reported on Lost in the Magic Forest, companies in SL see strategic advantages to being here.
