Trends in Virtual Worlds – an interesting perspective
There’s an excellent thesis put forward on 20 trends in virtual worlds over the past year. The ones of particular relevance were: 1. “Shedloads of virtual worlds will be launched in 2008″ – I think that’s a fair bet though how many actually make launch is doubtful. 2. “Teen-focused virtual worlds are huge” – Not [...]
Monash Uni: closed island?
In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, I was a little surprised at a quote attributed to Monash University’s Dr Melissa de Zwart: “our area won’t be open to the public; you will need to be on an authorised list to get in”. I try to avoid real-world comparisons but it’s [...]
Is it a long-term slide?
I’ve had some interesting comments privately from people about the significant decline on active Australian Second Life users over the past two months. So, I’ve created a topic on the SLOz forums to delve a bit deeper – why the slump? Wold love to hear your thoughts.
2.5 million SL users by 2010? Maybe.
Veteran aussie SL developer Gary Hayes (Gary Hazlitt) has postulated that there may be as many as 2.5 million simultaneous SL users by mid-2010. Guessing at numbers that far into the future is always going to be crystal-ball gazing but instinctively 2.5 million doesn’t seem out of the bounds of possibility – particulary with improvements [...]
More than just the jitters? Australian business in Second Life
One of the most commonly reported aspects of SL is its relationship with RL business. A year ago, the reporting was predominantly rose-shaded and that continued up until recently when some US business reduced or ceased their SL presence. The mood change in the mainstream media was noticeable and to a large extent its continued. [...]
SL Education vs Personal Beliefs
We have been tracking the growing number of educational facilities setting up presences in SL. Many have been active in setting up and conducting both courses and specific lectures in-world. A recent email list posting amongst SL educators raised the issue of a student declining participation in the SL portion of coursework due to “personal [...]
News.com.au – Terrorists in SL
Mainstream media reporting of Second Life in Australia has a mixed track record, and one of the biggest low points would have to be in this article on the news.com.au website published today. It can also be found on The Australian website. The article starts off regurgitating the (never confirmed) accusation that the 22nd May [...]
