Another day, another SL mention on CNN
(Visited 9645 times) Misc
Nov 142006
Growing number of educators explore ‘Second Life’ online – CNN.com. It appears to be presented as part of the Welcome to the Future special CNN is doing.
Misleading stat watch:
Now some 1.3 million people around the world log on to live out their second lives.
There’s definitely a little bit of an SL backlash building up among the MMO folks at this point, in part because of perceived overhype and in part because of the use of the registered users metric… a bit of a shame that we can get distracted from SL’s very real achievements because of the surrounding stuff — some of which, no doubt is a bit of jealousy.
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Filed under: Educational, News [IMG ]There is an article up on CNN.com about educators in Second Life. To which I had a very similar reaction to as Raph Koster who titled his post about the article “Another day, another SL mention on CNN.” I kind of wish I had thought of that first because it made me chuckle. It is true Second Life is getting a lot of press lately and seemingly more press about if it
Virtual Worlds have been in the media a lot lately and there’s been so much hype, I sometimes just wanna shout “OH…GET OVER IT!”. Clickable Culture has a little rant about a Toronto Star article which I found highly amusing. “On the other hand, it’s supremely social. Players band together, chatting incessantly. They hook up
I’m not jealous of Second Life, I’m just sort of agape at how well they work the press. It’s not “percieved overhype” when they get more attention from mainstream media than World of Warcraft.
1. The reason the press is using and will continue to use the 1.3m is because its a big buzz number.
@Scott
“I’m not jealous of Second Life, I’m just sort of agape at how well they work the press. It’s not “percieved overhype” when they get more attention from mainstream media than World of Warcraft.”
Dont be suprised, SL is right in the middle of bubble territory….you cant
pick up a rock and throw it in SF/Silicon Valley at the moment and not hit a Tech reporter, or VC…..seriously. Its probably hard not to get coverage when your tripping over tech reporters looking for scoops on your way to work.
Dell is starting a SL “presence” soon I read yesterday…
One day the Internet will cease to exist as simple html pages, we will mostly navigate in a virtual realm similar to an MMO.
Dell’s presence is just the start, and I imagine more and more companies will follow suit.
I’m not saying SL is where it will be, its just not mainstream enough, lacking alot of polish.
I would argue the SL isn’t really equipped with the vision to take us to a new era of virtual existence.
But mark my words, the Internet is simply the telegraph to what is coming.
/crazy rant off =)
Until a 3D interface can be proven to improve accessibility and retrievability of said content I highly doubt any significant portion of users or content will ever move into a VW like SL or it’s decendants.
3D environments are just so cumbersome and time consuming to move around compared to the 2d web. Ma and pop from the deep south dont even know any thing more than Yahoo = Web and you expect them to interact in a 3d environment?
Crazy rant indeed 😛
So some guy looking for parts to fix up his antique car is going to have to make a character first?
SL or other similar products have a place, but it’s entertainment for those who like that sort of entertainment. The internet is not going to be transformed into something like it. Mainly because it’s an extra step in between, one that caters to likes that not all people share.
Does anyone else remember back in the D+D days when some people were saying that some day everyone will have a D+D character and live a “second life” there after work?
It occurred to me a night or two ago (or was it a morning?) that registrations are a measure of marketing prowess, and nothing else.
I think that fits perfectly well with SL. The problem is that “registration”s are being conflated with “active user”s…
SL has more active users than SWG.
[…] Raph Koster, in commenting on Second Life News Story 4.6 x 109, states that “the MMO community” resents the amount of publicity is getting, possibly out of jealousy. […]
no doubt there is some jealousy here. But I bet it stems from SL being a great idea and being bobbled so often by Linden Labs. I like SL, but not in its current state or offering. I bet others feel the same and wish they had the resources to try something different. I don’t know if that’s designer-envy or player-envy.
[…] Life Found To Actually Be A Series Of Tubes Second Life Found To Actually Be A Series Of Tubes: “Raph Koster, in commenting on Second Life News Story 4.6 x 109, states that ‘the MMOcommunity’ resents the amount of publicity Second Life is getting, possibly out of jealousy. […]
“So some guy looking for parts to fix up his antique car is going to have to make a character first?”
I’m amazed to read comments like this here. Do people imagine the future internet to be as cloistered and as clumsy as SL is today? With people already moving identities between MMORPGs and discussion about moving assets between worlds (kind of what Multiverse would/could allow with their centralized asset market), does it not occur to people who visit this blog that people will have avatars by default the minute the open up their client/browser… even if they’re just standardized shapes? And that the future internet isn’t necessarily *just* 3D, but most likely an appropriate mix of 2D and 3D… just like RL. And that interfaces will at some point improve to allow better interaction… similar to some of the touchscreen and haptic stuff we’ve been seeing more of lately? And that as we move forward, the future old folks are today’s young tech- and 3D-savvy users… and for them customizing an avatar will be a fun/important/personal activity?
Where’s the imagination that spawns a comment like this?
I can’t wait until FOX News discovers SL. “1.3 Million pedophiles and furries are stalking your children online!”
Csven – You are right, MMO’s arent all 3-D, WoW has a mail system, guild information tab, maps, auction UI, etc. EVE, dear god, half the game is played looking at 2d UI.
I dont want to bash a company but I don’t think linden will be the one to take us to that “higher plane”.
“One day the Internet will cease to exist as simple html pages, we will mostly navigate in a virtual realm similar to an MMO.”
Gotta love when people who don’t have any clue what they are talking about making such brilliant predictions. You are talking about the “web”, which is just one of many things that live on the “internet”. It is not going away, because it does its job very well. People aren’t just going to abandon the web for finding information and use something designed for social purposes that is horrible for finding information.
“Gotta love when people who don’t have any clue what they are talking about making such brilliant predictions.”
If Michael W. is who I think he is, you might want to be more careful in your comments. The Michael W. I’m thinking about is one of the more qualified people to be making predictions in this arena.
The Michael W. I’m thinking of continuously ate paste all through Kindergarten. Wonder if they’re the same guy.
If he’s the CEO of Makena, could be.
[…] There is an article up on CNN.com about educators in Second Life. To which I had a very similar reaction to as Raph Koster who titled his post about the article ‘Another day, another SL mention on CNN.’ I kind of wish I had thought of that first because it made me chuckle. It is true Second Life is getting a lot of press lately and seemingly more press about if it should be getting so much press. But no matter your stance on the issue, I think one place Second Life deserves the coverage is in relation to education. The actual heart of the issue for me is explained in the CNN article with this statement: ‘The three-dimensional virtual world makes it possible for students taking a distance course to develop a real sense of community, said Rebecca Nesson, who leads a class jointly offered by Harvard Law School and Harvard Extension School…’ […]
[…] CNN takes a look at Second Life educatorsPosted Nov 16th 2006 9:31PM by Master PenguinFiled under: Educational, NewsThere is an article up on CNN.com about educators in Second Life. To which I had a very similar reaction to as Raph Koster who titled his post about the article “Another day, another SL mention on CNN.” I kind of wish I had thought of that first because it made me chuckle. It is true Second Life is getting a lot of press lately and seemingly more press about if it should be getting so much press. But no matter your stance on the issue, I think one place Second Life deserves the coverage is in relation to education. The actual heart of the issue for me is explained in the CNN article with this statement: “The three-dimensional virtual world makes it possible for students taking a distance course to develop a real sense of community, said Rebecca Nesson, who leads a class jointly offered by Harvard Law School and Harvard Extension School…” […]
The “Other Michael W” has a point here. Navigating the web via a 3D virtual space would look really neat, but for the end user, it would be horribly inefficient compared to the point-n-click of hypertext and forms.
If I want to look something up in Google, I don’t want to make an avatar stroll through a library to a virtual microfiche. I want to type in a word and get my answer.
If I want to check my e-mail, I don’t want to make an avatar walk out a virtual front door, down the sidewalk, to a mailbox, open it, look inside, reach in, and take out the mail; and then sort it, open it, and read it. I just want to click “Check Mail.”
If I want to see a video on YouTube, I don’t want to look under a virtual sofa in a virtual living room to find a virtual remote control to turn on a virtual TV. I just want to click the video on the sidebar and watch it.
I shudder to think what a 3D virtual environment would do about checking my bank balance. Virtual standing in line? No thanks.
Do people think that a 3D virtual environment means there would be no HUD? or no 2D web browser built into it? Sure seems that way. But I don’t understand that. After all, the car I drive IRL has a 2D dashboard that tells me Speed/RPM/Trip Miles/Vehicle Mileage/Oil Temp/Battery charge/Lights On-Off/Emergency blinkers/Turn Signals/Cruise On-Off/Door Open-Shut/etc etc etc.
Perhaps people don’t pay attention to how much 2D is in our real three-dimensional world.
[…] Worlds have been in the media a lot lately and there’s been so much hype, I sometimes just wanna shout “OH…GET OVER […]