The Metaverse Matures
Today was an interesting day for the folks over at Linden Lab. They announced an upgrade to MySQL 5.0, which is truly a harrowing adventure for any self-respecting geek. On the financial side, the news also came out that an existing investor in Linden Lab sold shares of the company to the venture capital firm Saints Capital. Always a sign of transformative times when people start trading your stock around.
At the same time, I’m equally inspired today by a departure from Second Life. Virtual Farmers Market has moved on to greener pastures, it seems. The market, where one can buy real-world consumables in a virtual space, used Second Life as a proof-of-concept. Once it looked like this idea really was going to work, they did the exact right thing: they went out and found technology that was a better fit.
This is, ironically, great for Second Life. There was a time when people would build a proof-of-concept that it didn’t quite work right, but did what it was supposed to do – illustrate their idea quickly and cheaply. Unfortunately, they’d then try to force it into functionality from there. They’d get frustrated, give up on this whole “virtual worlds fad”, and the entire enterprise’s failure would be blamed on Second Life.
It was like building a miniature model of a house and then trying to live in it full time. We saw a lot of companies do it.
Instead, Virtual Farmers Market used Second Life when it suited their needs, and moved on to a Digital Presence solution when the time came. The project works, and everybody’s happy.
We’re getting there folks!
