This is Going to Take Longer Than I Thought

In another couple of months, I will reach my third anniversary of working with Second Life. My 'rez day' as they call it, was November 3, 2006. I have to say that I thought a whole lot more would have happened by now. I am, at once, still optimistic and disappointed. I am optimistic because I think this technology has enormous potential that has yet to be exploited but will be. I am disappointed because I think that a major reason why this has not gone further is a complete lack of vision on the part of Linden Labs. Despite the endless complaints about lag, reliability, griefers, and such, I think they do a reasonably good job at the operation level. I think that any operational deficiencies could easily be cured if they were to charge a small fee for membership and use that money to shore up operations.

However, at the tactical and strategic levels they seem to be completely unequal to the task of launching this technology. They have a gold mine here and they are sending people in to mine the gold with plastic spoons. They hire people who know how to use plastic spoons and their research agenda is consumed with finding better quality plastic spoons.

I still plan to use Second Life in the classroom as I think it has a great deal to offer in helping students to envision the new world of computer applications that is slowly coming about. I also plan to continue promoting the use of Second Life in educational applications as I think its potential has only just begun to be exploited.

However, as the academic year begins and I have to decide where to invest my limited time (especially my limited writing time), it does not seem worth it to try to write a weekly blog on Second Life. Consequently, I will step back a bit and write only when I feel I have something important to say. This is going to take a while and if I am going to be in it for the duration, I will have to pace myself.