Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Too busy with First Life sorry

BenWilson

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:47:12 +1300

poveyjo, of course simulation is useful in many ways. My point was that the immersiveness is not enough to capture a massive market – there is way more to it than that. If Second Life did anything you have in your examples well it might be a lot more useful.

poveyjo

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:49:34 +1300

We already have reality, and it's about as immersive as it gets.

Well yeah sure, but the knowledge to be gained by running simulations in a virtual earth are fairly sizeable I would think.

Or maybe use it to try rearranging your office furniture, demonstrate how new buildings will look,…

rodgerd

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:19:43 +1300

But I'm also boggled as to why the media seems to fixate on Second Life so much more than any other MMORPG.

I dunno. Perhaps it's not as full of the kind of dickwits that infect most MMORPGs.

My drug of choice (Eve) has such charmers as the Alliance that…

Ben Austin

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:31:14 +1300

Gloating should be a mortal sin, imo.

InternationalObserver

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:19:01 +1300

do you think the guy who posted this comment on Huffington Post
has A Life, let alone a Second Life?

Speak 4 yourself you loser you like what clearly seems to be semi-nude pornography...
PLUS IT'S FALSE BEAUTY WITH PHOTOS LIKE THIS BEING
DOCTURED TO THE INFINITE POWER...
Get ready 4…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:48:03 +1300

ooo YAY for robyn!!!!

Aw, thanks, Sue! I'm sure I'll write a review or something once I've read the book.

BenWilson

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:27:28 +1300

cyberspace also has this innate appeal to a particular kind of meat-space people, if you get my meaning.

Not really. You mean they are meats? Or that it's a meat market?

tinned monkey doesn't cut it in space with current tech

Indeed, since exploration is the main purpose of just…

Che Tibby

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:38:56 +1300

cyberspace also has this innate appeal to a particular kind of meat-space people, if you get my meaning.

It's an anachronistic view of the future, that we will want to voyage forth on to colonize the universe, much as humans have done on Earth

i've been heavy on the sci-fi…

BenWilson

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:43:50 +1300

I think 2nd Life's real appeal is in the SciFi-ness of it, not the actual practicality. Much like space travel, where we've all read about it for over a century, and have had the means for over 40 years, but the practicality of it means that pretty much everything we…

Che Tibby

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:47:31 +1300

the other point is that new zealanders don't really have all that much invested in africa, do we? so not much interest.

why be concerned about the digital divide "over there" when it's hard enough to get bureaucrats to use a wiki? and almost impossible to get soem types of…

BenWilson

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:39:29 +1300

Bureaucrats having informal meetings in virtual corridors, on their way to the virtual water cooler? Can't see it. The true joy of the informal meeting is that it is 'off the record'. Which isn't really a possibility if the other person could just cut your entire chat out of a…

Ben Austin

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:40:33 +1300

I think virtual worlds as a substitute for real world meetings or even IM is still a little far away – unless easy to use technology that maps one's movements or voice to an avatar while many other people do the same in real time are freely available. Then look…

Danyl Mclauchlan

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:31:39 +1300

But it's not like anyone here is thinking about Africa... or are they?

Great. Now I've got that stupid Toto song stuck in my head.

Tze Ming Mok

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:27:49 +1300

While Second Life may often be empty and boring, I have had a few constructive private business meetings there. ...But having 20 countries come together in a virtual world creates a much better sense of 'prescence' and team interaction than a group conference call, even video conferencing, would.

Exactly. Working…

BenWilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:58:14 +1300

Chat doesn't use much bandwidth. Porn does. But I wouldn't accept any figure on usage without evidence. It's not an arena where 'what feels right' is any safe guide to the truth. I don't download many movies or much music, but maybe a lot of other people do, and when…

Sue

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:51:26 +1300

ooo YAY for robyn!!!!

Yamis

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:26:30 +1300

OK, in my 4 years living in South Korea I can honestly say that I do not recall looking at pornography on the internet. Apart from this one time when I was so blind drunk that my mate leant over to my computer in a pcroom and brought it up…

Russell Brown

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:20:13 +1300

i just watched that clip of russian rug and it takes me back to being a 15 year-old lying on my bedroom floor playing the bilder' schwimmen in der see 7" on the family radiogram (one speaker model). that song was the very first i ever heard to clue me…

BenWilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:20:07 +1300

Instead of Second Life, I'd like to see a beefed up Google Earth world.... basically a Second Life style copy of the real world, where I can join you in a 3D copy of your actual office on the other side of the world.

Heh, one day, it will almost…

Mark Easterbrook

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:04:47 +1300

My desk neighbour decided to experiment with Second Life about 6 months ago.

His avatar was a naked dude with a fox's head and tail.

That was about the point I lost interest...

paul mckessar

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:47:40 +1300

i just watched that clip of russian rug and it takes me back to being a 15 year-old lying on my bedroom floor playing the bilder' schwimmen in der see 7" on the family radiogram (one speaker model). that song was the very first i ever heard to clue me…

poveyjo

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:32:58 +1300

Instead of Second Life, I'd like to see a beefed up Google Earth world.... basically a Second Life style copy of the real world, where I can join you in a 3D copy of your actual office on the other side of the world.

Then on top of that, if…

Bart Janssen

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:04:12 +1300

Mark pointed to Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser which was published in 2003.

From the review of the book in The Guardian It seems that in 2003 Porn was as big as Holywood at around US$10 billion and about half…

Russell Brown

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:54:39 +1300

Re Second Life, I'm sure there are some useful applications, but it just doesn't seem that good, and the way it's been hyped for corporate marketing is just farcical.

And I'm dubious about going so far in orientating education resources around the commercial product of a single company.

At the…

Mark Easterbrook

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:27:14 +1300

What percentage of the USA's GDP does porn make up?
Is porn bigger than corn? Is it bigger than Hollywood? Or bigger than big oil?

Check out Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation).

It's three essays…

BenWilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:16:04 +1300

I'm wondering if in a mixed metaphor we could see Hollywood as a tidal wave of corn.

BenWilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:13:04 +1300

Porn doesn't need a lobby any more than a tidal wave does.

dc_red

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:38:47 +1300

Bart asked:

What percentage of the USA's GDP does porn make up?
Is porn bigger than corn? Is it bigger than Hollywood? Or bigger than big oil?

Good questions. There is a parallel with the contribution illicit drugs (marijuana in particular) can make to local economies. e.g., Is marijuana worth…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:34:47 +1300

Can you start a terrorist gang in Second Life and blow up the Swedish Embassy with home made napalm and very pistols bought off TradeMe?

There was a 'virtual riot' on Second Life earlier this year between the French National Front and anti-racist activists. Quite enterprising really, especially when the…

Bart Janssen

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:26:12 +1300

On the other hand, South Koreans do seem to pay vastly more per head for porn than the citizens of any other nation. But almost all internet porn is American. Go figure.

So here's a question for which someone must have done a PhD to figure out the answer and…

Stephen Knightly

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:18:33 +1300

While Second Life may often be empty and boring, I have had a few constructive private business meetings there. They have mostly been international company meetings with the CEO announcing a new strategy, etc. But having 20 countries come together in a virtual world creates a much better sense of…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:03:55 +1300

Yeah well – I was really into Crowther/Woods Adventure when I was 18. For about a month – then I got bored and found/decoded the data file that drove it.

Can you start a terrorist gang in Second Life and blow up the Swedish Embassy with home made napalm and…

Emma Hart

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:54:20 +1300

Second Life, however imperfectly, is the closest thing around to the network in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash for example
and seems to be what it's designed to emulate.
otherwise... so dull that you can guarantee only adults will be on there.

I do know someone who, while mainly a WoW…

Ben Austin

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:40:19 +1300

I remember reading somewhere that one of the best ways to make real money in Second Life was to be one of those people that help real world organisations set up. Besides this two years of fanboyish media interest has surely set up Second Life for the media scare story…

Darryn Melrose

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:33:12 +1300

Thanks for the feedback Russell.

Unfortunately the earlier presentation ran over in time, and mine was cut short without warning, so I didn't get to provide the conclusion- why there is a big gap between consumer expectations and what NZ businesses provide. I'll provide some detail on this over the…

InternationalObserver

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:30:38 +1300

I was interested to see that one of the questions asked of Michael Cullen this morning after his keynote speech suggested New Zealand should follow Sweden and establish an embassy in Second Life.

Can someone clarify: did Cullen suggest opening an embassy, or just the questioner?

What was his response, if…

Danyl Mclauchlan

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:28:10 +1300

The technology for 3d virtual worlds just ain't there – there's simply nothing you can do in 'Second Life' that you can't do using some other superior technology. Want to have an online meeting? Use an access grid. Want to watch a band you can't see in the real world?…

Ron Wilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:10:51 +1300

Come on it is certainly not necessary to spend any money in SL unless you wnat to have land or buildings. It is perfectly possible to carry out all manner of activities without spending a cent. There are some amazing groups that have regular discussions in Real Time and friendships…

Sam F

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:07:37 +1300

Second Life is ugly, high on bandwidth costs, and full of the kind of people who will willingly pay real money to exchange for virtual money to buy unrealistic virtual genitals. And Russell's right – compared to the rest of the net there is bugger-all going on in there.

Robyn Gallagher

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:04:10 +1300

To add to the Second Life scepticism, there's this article from about a year ago. The author wonders why Second Life is getting so much hype.

The tech beat is an intake valve for the young. Most reporters don’t remember that anyone has ever wrongly predicted a bright future for…

KevinHicks

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:03:42 +1300

I feel much better now after discovering that, at least for once, we can laugh at another country's stupidity.

Che Tibby

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:47:01 +1300

Second Life, however imperfectly, is the closest thing around to the network in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash for example

and seems to be what it's designed to emulate.

otherwise... so dull that you can guarantee only adults will be on there.

Nick Melchior

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:33:49 +1300

I think some of the appeal of Second Life is that it reminds people of the cool 80s/90s cyberpunk novels that were a lot of people’s first encounter with the idea of virtual spaces. Second Life, however imperfectly, is the closest thing around to the network in Neal Stephenson’s Snow…

Craig Ranapia

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:32:41 +1300

Second Life, like much else, I just don't get — how awesomely shitty is your first life if that's a more desirable alternative?

BenWilson

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:14:56 +1300

When I saw Second Life I thought "How cool – for the owners". Otherwise, it's a chat room. If I'm going to chat, I'll do it for free thx.

I suspect the question was a joke.

Public Address

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:14:56 +1300

Discussion from blog post.