M in Paris by way of Chez Serge.
Seems like every time M hits Paris he spills out a little bit more stuff about where Linden Lab is headed with Second Life. Must be the wine or something, because he always ends up sounding a little more loose lipped than he tends to get this side of the Atlantic. So it was recently when the Lab went hunting for offices in Amsterdam and then popped in for lunch or whatever in Paris.
M (or Mark Kingdon as he’s know in the atomic world) re-emphasized a few points he brought up at the recent Second Life Community Convention but went further, according to a report by Chez Serge.
M reminded us that the new viewer’s coming. I’ve personally been waiting for this for over a year. With 50 people working it, sounds like this is a major project for the Lab. I’ve long been hopeful that a new viewer would be transformative for Second Life and if it establishes new benchmarks for elegance in UI design, can hold incredible strategic advantage over other platforms.
But M also hinted that they would do a follow-up act with a browser-based viewer. I’m not quite following the logic of this unless he means a “Web-based experience” rather than a full viewer. Rather than trying to replicate the experience of SL in the browser (the approach taken by 3Di for example) I’d prefer to see resources go into an alternative Web-based experience of SL.
What I was really excited about was M’s comment about an “iPhone-type app store”: “There will be more help to the content creator, including the media API, but also possibilities for the creator to sell its products through a mechanism which will be inspired by iTunes appstore portal.” This is a little vague, but what I picture here is better support for selling all the stuff that’s created AROUND Second Life – the Web-side code, sites, plug-ins and so on. XStreet focuses on content that can be used IN-WORLD, the above comment seems to suggest that creators will be able to sell other content as well.
Accompanying this are additional opportunities for content creators to sell to the enterprise market and the privately hosted Grids that will arrive with the launch of Nebraska:
“(Next is) their standalone tool, whose code name so far is Nebraska. 10 alpha customers are using it, including IBM (who will launch a collaborative product very soon, as I have learned in 3DTLC), Intel, Boose Allen, and the US military. The product will be annouced around november, with full technical specification, features, and pricing, and version 1.0 will be public Q1 next year (I know that IBM already did some integration with LDAP server). They did not mention the business model, but they are looking for channel partners to sell the platform. Inside Nebraska, there will be a market place (iTunes like) where users can buy existing content.”
It will be interesting to see how open the ‘channel partners’ channel actually is.
And finally, M gave a far more detailed overview of how the Work channel for enterprise will, um, work. In addition to the new Web site, it will include:
- Registration as an organization
- Dedicated enterprise registration pathways
- Enterprise orientation island, offering the possibility to use company’s name for the avatars
- The possibility for a company to give (or not) linden dollars, and to welcome guest avatars.
The next phase will offer an enterprise hub and there will be community gateways.
No word if they’ll ever get around to providing an INVOICING option for enterprise (using credit cards to pay for sim rentals and corporate user accounts is amateur hour).
So – next time we need a little more detail on where Linden Lab is headed, I say we get the European crowd together to invite M over.
[...] Seems like every time M hits Paris he spills out a little bit more stuff about where Linden Lab is h… [...]
Far from it to spoil the party, but being privy to a recent informal meet In London as the entourage, stopped over in London on rout to Amsterdam, am worried that as with the greening of companies in real life, with each trying to out do all with their carbon footprint credentials,
To many times we are hearing the catch words community/partners with regard Linden Lab, and am yet to see signs that said communities and partner’s are in constructive dialogue to better this thing we call virtual world.
Much as I applaud the work being done with regard enterprise,and all the new ways to give us tools, without marketing of the platform for use by the general public which so far has been done by users of the platform, traction will not be gained in the wishes of Linden Lab to maintain its place at the moment as the leading platform provider.
As the pendulum swings into the next decade, and content producers look for new spaces to market their wares Linden Lab should take the lead and market itself as this space, or face the possibility that dedicated spaces will rise from this lack of marketing/leadership.
I shall reiterate my belief that the virtual space we shall all live with in the future will involve the greater open community as proven by the success of social websites, which already are beginning to take up some of space which rightfully belong in virtual worlds as we perceive it to be in the future.
We watch for moves on the marketing front, as so many of us have staked our businesses on the future of secondlife.
Julius Sowu Virtually-Linked London
As an American, living in Amsterdam, I have only ever found Europeans in SL to be warm, polite and open. So who can blame M for reciprocating?
like most Americans, LL have come to Europe thinking they’re in a foreign land. They go all crazy for the romance of Paris, the sleaze of Amsterdam and teutonic over Berlin. They come to London and they see America in reverse.
It’s a bit like the old days when film stars used to make embarrassing TV commercials in Japan, knowing it would never be seen in the USofA.
Well M, the Internet is here. Words and images travel.
From the report, I also understand the LL are going to be really pushing Europe as the future of SL. With 67% of the SL community out side the USofA. America is descending, Europe/ROW is ascending. Fact. Those figures confirm it.
Also, ROW/Europe does seem to be just getting on with it, just look at how much activity happens in Japan. Amazing content and a real community. They don’t troll as much and don’t relish the opportunity to spike LL with opportunistic legal action.
Is it just me, or do us American residents seem to be disgruntled and on the constant LL attack? No wonder LL are more open in Europe, they get treated with respect and not confronted with the old SLCC mantra “If I ran LL I would do it this way…” or worse, they think they run (fantasize they have Philip on speed dial) SL because they have been in SL since 2004. The weight of expectation in Europe seems to be less, they just enjoy it for what it is.
Mainland Europe has one of the lowest rates of credit card ownership. So you’re going to really have to rethink that payment system. I work for a bank in Amsterdam, you would be shocked, they just don’t do credit like us Americans!
Also Europe is very split, with UK, France, Germany, Netherlands being leaders, the rest of Europe tends to lag behind. The other countries are slower to adopt. Instead, they take their lead from the other leading Eurozone countries. Language and culture is a barrier, SL in Europe is an urban environment.
Should be an interesting journey, I question why they would choose Amsterdam. Don’t be fooled LL, Amsterdam is not like Brighton, it’s not the liberal Burning Man experience. If you’re really serious, take the plunge in Berlin, London or Paris.
I’m always able to confer anew why my ancesters fled from Europe : )
I’m always able to confer anew, too, why I didn’t remain an American with expats abroad, too : )
The snarkiness, haughtiness, class warfare, and incitement of hatred fairly drips from this post. Shame on you.
What’s in it for you?! Hoping to get a consulting contract for “localization”?
Gotta love Linden Lab, shitting on their customers especially on the Mainland for six years, then suddenly acting surprised that they complain, and even launch lawsuits.
Then opening a fresh page with naive Europeans who haven’t had to deal with Linden reality yet, and blaming Americans for “negativity”.
Outrageous.
One reason Americans tend to chose the Netherlands is because there is some shared history and sensibility with New York City and other settlements, and the Dutch just are nicer and friendlier to Americans, and don’t get all shirty about not speaking their language or being “crass” or “commercial”.