» https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Zero_Linden

And links to past transcripts!

In hindsight, some things are going to look different — remember those early videos about the World Wide Web from the mid-90s that seem so dated now? I think a lot of the current media coverage is going to be the same way. For me, the power in Second Life is sometimes not so much where it stands out, but where it blends in, ubiquitously, in very much the same way you’d enjoy a cup of coffee without necessarily buying into media hype (e.g., all the Starbucks articles over the years — that’s a parallel) or wear a pair of jeans.

The latter example is one which Steve Jobs has noted about the iPod, which is a popular technology which is now so commonplace that it doesn’t really cause shocked reactions so much as smiles and integrates into one’s “digital lifestyle”. I think there’s a solid case for Second Life to follow that as we grow too.

I think part of the problem for many people is that there’s not a single “direction”; Second Life is even more Resident-driven with community-created content than before, and many people have many different ideas about where they want it to go. And beyond that, many people are actually taking it in those directions as of their own accord, not Linden Lab’s. That is part of the problem with scaling, because we only have so many resources, but so many feature requests from people with conflicting goals — this is why I and you both mentioned Open Source, to help do things and make positive contributions to the world.

So I don’t think it’s all going in the right direction, but there’s also many gleaming promises, some of which have come to pass, which aren’t observed so much in the news. (Obvious things often get missed, I know of no major media articles to remark how much flexiprims have helped the economy via better clothes and hair.)

Like a baby stumbling on the way to walking, running, flying… how else does one learn? I really think a fundamental thing here is to endure, persist, and keep going, despite whatever is “said”. In a day where time is more of an infernal resource than ever before, a lot is written about SL by journalists who’ve only been in here for, what, a few hours, a few days at most? Or who haven’t been in SL at all but are writing it from the perspective of someone who reviews cuisine but doesn’t eat the food. That’s not representative of a life. So the most interesting press about SL to me is that which unfolds over time, which reexamines one’s past feelings about what’s happening. :)

Something that may seem “wrong” today may be very right tomorrow. History is littered with examples of technological predictions which seemed solid at the time but would fall apart years later. And terms that lose favor quickly: who still refers to the Internet as “cyberspace”. In a similar way how SL is often (and inaccurately, because that’s like saying “orange is the whole rainbow”) called again, I welcome perception-shifts, and reevaluating how and what we think about Second Life. As an online world constantly influx, it’s only fair, and sensible.

I hope for the same things many people want: being able to fit massive crowds in a region, smoother performance (higher FPS), etc. but I also hope for things not realy stated which are also extremely important, like an immersive sound experience. That hasn’t been brought up enough, but just about anyone who enjoys movies knows how vital audio is. It’s an intangible, a “feel good” which is tricky for anyone to define, which is why there’s frustration — but that is a catalyst for change and action!

And thank you very much re: my website! Have a lovely day.

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

It’s true, I really haven’t heard much about LL’s development studios. Could you point me to some info? I’m curious ;)

Also, to be fair, I didn’t mention one important point, which instead I left as a comment at Max’s post about the same issue. What I posted there is: “Agreed – Second Life is the best 3D virtual world so far, and Linden Lab deserves credit. Maybe I should have mentioned that in my answer. ;)” And so it is – so far I don’t know anything better than SL in terms of virtual environments, and LL deserve credit for this.

It just doesn’t seem to scale, or in other words: It feels like SL might have grown so fast, and overhyped so badly in the media, that the community kind might tip, that SL might be about to jump the shark.

But I’d be glad to be proven wrong – you think it’s all going to the right direction?

Btw. Your personal website is very cool – love it!

One think I should mention is Linden Lab’s internal team structuring has changed a lot, although it could stand to be a lot more obvious, e.g., I don’t think many know of our “Development Studios” unless you’ve met someone like Zero Linden during his inworld hours, and Liaisons are scaling to take on different specializations.

While rare, I hold such communities as Caledon in high-esteem for really doing it their way with “governance”. Other fine notables, let me know!

BTW, Groups 2.0 last year was part of “the tools”. Hopefully this year will see another round of Groups improvements, and I’m hoping some Open Source boffins will cook up useful anti-griefing tools. (Related, I’m impressed by Dale Glass’ TrustNet work.)

I’m mindful to view progress like money: there’s always more to be made.