While this article is somewhat quaint, Steven Walden of Beyond Philosophy wrote an op-ed for Mycustomer.com that speaks favorably of the Web’s virtual commercial future.

Asserting that “today’s geek or student is tomorrow’s audience,” Walden, the principal consultant and head of research at the customer experience company, wrote highly of the ‘mash-up,’ as he calls it, of the Web 2.0 and the 3D Web. He sees an innovative future for companies looking to find the next wave of consumers online, and he sees it in virtual worlds:

The use of such 3D technology and virtual communication is highly likely to mash-up with the current internet version 2.0. So rather then think of this as some strange phenomena, detached from the commercial goings on on the internet, it is very much the next extension of it.

Coming from a customer service background, Walden is stingy on the creative details about Second Life but appreciative of some older, (but failed), efforts to build commercial enterprises in Second Life. He also sees how the interactivity of Second Life will benefit customer relations strategies:

As the primary purpose is interaction you are already seeing many specific interest communities develop, an excellent basis for feedback and targeting your messages and online developments as well as obtaining research feedback.

I always love finding people who are riding their own hype cycle and can be enthusiastic about virtual worlds without the baggage of knowing, maybe, what worked and what didn’t, or whether commerce has been GOM’d by the platform owners.