There’s been some interesting debate following the Metaverse Roadmap this past weekend; I’ve been following much of it via some links I mentioned earlier (reLink). The discussion now centers around a more recent post by Ethan Zuckerman (Link) which, in effect, drags some reality into the virtual universe. If you’ve read my posts over on the SL Future Salon website or are aware of some of my other comments on the situation in the Third World which, as it turns out, I’ve seen up front and personal in my travels abroad, it should come as no surprise that I agree with much of what Ethan has to say. His remarks fit right in with my own comments on this sort of thing. If you’ve not read my SLFS posts, you might find those of interest. From The Flat Earth’s Shaky Virtual Ground (Link):
Assume for a moment you are the Boss, the person running a real world sweatshop employing low-cost laborers who spend 12-18 hours per day inside games and sims to earn virtual currency and whatnot for later sale on sites like eBay. Do you really want your employees learning all the tools necessary to replace you in your real life job? Or to leave your business and start their own in competition to yours? Or to make secret contact with someone in the West for the purpose of conducting real world business? Furthermore, does the upper class community in the region truly want lower class citizens being educated by someone in the West? How would some Indians feel about my teaching aerospace engineering theory to an Untouchable? Has anyone really considered the social impact of this kind of interaction? And what are the consequences?
From Avoiding A Short Shot (Link):
The significant juxtaposition isn’t between those on the train; it’s between “Us” and “Them” in a much broader context. There are people missing from our general perception of the world. Us being everyone actively involved in the world, and Them being all those who are, for whatever reason, excluded from actively engaging with the world. They’re the poor, the disadvantaged, the challenged, the terminally ill… just to name a few.
I also posted a related comment on Jamais Cascio’s blog (Link) earlier this morning. If you’re put off by those other rambling essays, it does a decent job of getting to the point in a hurry.
That said, I do see opportunities in the technology. I’ve just not had the same view of how to leverage it {one example I thought I’d add – reLink}. Hopefully over the course of the next year I can make a tiny, tiny contribution to helping someone in a practical way. That would be a great milestone to me. But I’m fully aware it’s just a drop in the proverbial bucket.