Second Life is Still Around but Media is Less Interested
The BBC has an article about Linden Labs' virtual world called Second Life and how it has faded from the news. The BBC says media mentions of the virtual world peaked in 2008. Some retailers that opened up shop in Second Life when it was still getting lots of press ended up closing them. American Apparel's virtual retail shop in Second Life lasted just a year.
But just as quickly as it had flared, media interest ebbed away. References plummeted by 40% in 2008 and dropped further this year. And businesses diverted their resources back to real life.
American Apparel closed its shop just one year after opening. Reuters pulled its correspondent in October 2008. When asked about his virtual experience, Pasick says: "It isn't a subject we like to revisit."
Wired UK editor-at-large Ben Hammersley told the BBC that stores would get 20-30 visitors when they first opened in Second Life but then the number of visitors would quickly dwindle.
It could be that these stores were just too early and it will take time for Second Life to grow. Linden Labs claims the number of Second Life users logging in is still climbing.
"Monthly repeat login - a metric we use to gauge the number of users engaged with Second Life - grew 23% from September 2008 to September 2009," says Mark Kingdon, chief executive of Linden Lab.
In IBM's Virtual Green Data Center, avatars can seek IT advice
On average, a million people log in each month, he says. In October 2009, 75,000 of those were in the UK.
Second Life may need to find a way to go mobile if it is to become a hot property again. There might be a way the company can do this with augmented reality. If not, it will have to find a way to continue growing without the press it received during 2007 and 2008.
Med Students Treat Virtual Patients in Second Life
A British medical school is having students learn by treating virtual patients in the online world Second Life. The university has an online hospital in Second Life where med students can practice on virtual patients. Take a look:
Ebay Delists Virtual Property Unless Its From Second Life
Trading virtual property on eBay is a big no no unless you are trading virtual property from the Second Life virtual world. Trading virtual property from World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs is forbidden. Originally the eBay ban was for all virtual items but News.com reports that traders of Second Life virtual items have been thrown a life line.
eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told CNET News.com Monday that that exemption stems from the auction giant's interpretation of what Second Life is.
"If someone participates in Second Life and wants to sell something they own, we are not at this point proactively pulling those listings off the site," said Durzy. "We think there is an open question about whether Second Life should be regarded as a game."
That statement should make Second Life publisher Linden Lab very happy, as it has tried for years to hammer home the point that its virtual world is not a game. But to have that position supported by as august an institution as eBay should definitely bolster Linden Lab's argument, regardless of what other observers think.
One argument that Second Life is no longer a game is that you have news agencies, embassies and department stores like Sears setting up a virtual place inside the virtual world. More discussion of the ban on virtual goods except for those found Second Life can be found on Auctionbytes, Marketing Vox and ITWire. Also at Auctionbytes Ina Steiner speculates about the possibility of a Second Life acquisition by eBay.
If you run a "Second Life" search on eBay you will currently see over 100 items -- most of which are Lindens or Linden Dollars -- the currency traded inside the Second Life virtual world.
Second Life is an online virtual world that has been generating an
enormous amount of press over the past several months. Lately some
retailers have been setting up shop in the virtual world which claims to have
two million members. Now Sears is setting up a store inside the virtual
world.
Providing customers with the best possible shopping experience is very
important for the company and it is always looking for new and exciting
ways to present products and services, says Sears Holdings' senior vice
president for direct commerce, Paul Miller.
'The Sears Virtual Home combines the best of virtual worlds and 3D
environments so customers can experience Sears' products in a way that
is closer to real life,' he said.
'Sears.com already provides innovative design functionality and this
work with IBM in a virtual world is a logical extension of those initiatives.'
Eventually, the customers entering the store using a virtual in-game avatar
will be able to see mock-ups of rooms, allowing them to experiment with
furniture colours, sizes and layouts.
It is great that retailers are supporting the world. The 3-D
modeling offered in Second Life may help consumers create
mock-ups for a countertop or design a living room. The technology
is still quite crude, but eventually this type of 3-D modeling
will work.
But here's the problem. Isn't this really just a little too much reality for what's supposed to be a fun online game? If you are leaving reality for a virtual world where you can do anything, then anything you can imagine you can create. Don't you really want the very best products? Don't you want to wear the hippest high-end fashions, drive the hottest vehicles and own the most fabulous real estate? Do you really want to create a virtual house furnished by Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Sears and wear clothes from the Gap?
If the sky's the limit, why wouldn't you want to wear an Armani suit or
a Versace dress while you sip the finest champagne? You can relax on the deck as your $50 million yacht glides across a clear purple sea while five spectacular Suns set in the distance. No doubt your personal mermaid chorus will serenade you on your journey.
Or you could go to Sears and find a virtual washer and
dryer...yawn.
Trading virtual property on eBay is a big no no unless you are trading virtual property from the 
