Tag Archives: #virtualgoods

Inside the Fortress… and Outside

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magickingdomSL

Wired is carrying an update of sorts on the problem of orphaned copyrighted work. If companies like IBM are tearing down the walls to let some light in to spur overall growth and opportunity, I have to wonder what’s going on inside the barricades at places like Disney (both the buildings and the mental erections). Speaking of which, I happened across an interesting place in the Second Life simulation: a vendor selling Disney items on the island of Erotica (no kidding). Now that puts an interesting spin on the label “Magic kingdom”.

“From HR to Industrial Design”

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BusinessWeek has an excellent article on IBM’s business makeover which discusses how, as their operation evolves, it’s becoming less grounded in real products (which are more and more just commodities) and turning increasingly to “virtual” services. This provides an excellent example of the flipside of VR: as virtual worlds and simulations become increasingly realistic with graphics and simpler interfaces, real world operations are migrating towards them as well. I think there’s a collision on the horizon – a “rebang”, if you will. Even if IBM fails, the trend is there. Now let’s wait and see if Big Blue can successfully shed that earthbound hardware heritage.

SL Product Design

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rebangterminalW

Not actually the first design I’ve created in Second Life. I’ve already constructed a monopod vehicle (that requires some additional code to limit rotations to prevent it from “shoveling”), a hoverpod (that’s sluggish in the turn), and eye glasses that play streaming video (cool, but only a test). And this. It’s actually the second in-world vendor terminal I’ve modeled. The first, unfortunately, had “copy/modify” permissions improperly set (ok, I’m a noob), and as a result may now be in use somewhere in Second Life without my knowledge. It was intended for a virtual world competition, but given its possible… likely… emancipation, I opted to design a second one – the above. That object was entered and soundly defeated (so much for my ego). However, it marks a turning point in my second life, so I decided to document that here. And apart from it’s magical ability to defy gravity, I’d like to see a kiosk like this in real life (it looks better in-world. honest.)

The Virtual Office

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I’ve been spending a bit of time in Second Life. Having bought my virtual land, I’ve learned the modeling tools and built a virtual office (cleaner than my RL office, sad to say).

SL Office 01
SL Office 02
SL Office 03

And if you want to read a real blog entry (and I’m getting tired of typing tbh; in-world “chatting” is killing my fingertips – getting hoarse, so to speak), feel free to drop in on the Core77 Software & Technology blog where I post related (and often overlapping) entries. If you read my previous entry here called “The Anti-Sony“, today’s entry on Core is essentially a continuation. The dance is the same, just different partners (didn’t some character in STNG say that?)

Getting X’d Out

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Although not definitive, this piece over on Reuters makes it sound increasingly as if Microsoft’s Xbox 2 “Marketplace” will be more like a corporate-run mall instead of an open-air flea market. That would be a shame imo. Having spent the last couple of days exploring Second Life where players actually create content within the virtual world and conduct both virtual and real monetary transactions directly, I’m having a hard time imagining how a closed virtual economy can be a good thing. If game developers interface to MS’s Marketplace – and there’s a strong likelihood they will – they’ll need Content to continue flowing long after the game ships to consumers. And unless they intend to diversify into what, in the real world, is essentially an after-market “parts” market, I expect that they’ll start outsourcing this secondary activity to “modders”. And of course, everyone loves middlemen and the power they have to control (aka raise) prices. Same as it ever was…