Image of the 2010 NMRA Train Show and Convention exhibit area
I clipped a part of a comment by Justin Bovington to a blog post this morning By Dusan Writer: Second Life and Unity: Time for a Developer’s Conference?. Now Justin may know more then i do, or even Dusan about "The Lab's SL 2.0 Stratagy".
His comment does make it all so simple and clear. He gives three general uses cases for three communities of interest, three separate approaches to SL & therefore three markets segments.
As we enter 2010, this will change will bring about a more defined set of entry points:
EDUCATION – second life and privately managed entry points
ENTERTAINMENT – P2P content creators, defined by Xtsreet and Second Life.com
ENTERPRISE – (b2b) privately managed solutions, delivered by the SL develop community
With education and enterprise a hybrid of managed privately hosted environments and “code name: Nebraska” behind-the-firewall solutions. Entertainment’s front door with be via the traditional Second Life.com experience.
These defined entry points – I believe greatest epoch change since 2003 – will give us all the opportunity to focus and build relevant experiences. This is arguably why the media still has trouble categorising Second Life. Some of the press still see Second Life as a “story” from 2006-2007, with little to no definition beyond Google researched news threads. As we know, it’s not that black and white. Hence why I think 2010 will be the tipping-point. Definition creates Clarity*.
Beyond the SL developer community, we need to crossover from “niche conventions” and take this into the mainstream clients/sales/development conference circuit. Virtual Worlds are coming of age as a business tool; we’re seeing real ROI and real tangible benefits. The longer we hide this in the wilderness, the longer it will take to adopt. The current “niche conventions” are peer-to-peer meet ups, with no purpose other than showcasing platforms.
Success will come from proving to the market that these “platforms” have relevant and developed “solutions” for sector specific business use and challenges. This is the reason we created Immersive Workspaces, a complete solution for the collaboration and virtual business development.
The Entertainment entry point is the world of the fantastic designers, artists and artisans who create the rich tapestry of content and ideas in Second Life.com They need a celebration and party once a year, with the opportunity to network and attend workshops. Linden Lab can use these sessions as a “listen and learn” with the community. This would also be a great place for Adobe or Autodesk to run master classes.
Education needs it’s own convention, maybe again within the established Education conference circuit? I will leave the educators to answer this one, as they do it well and with gusto.
Justin Bovington – CEO – Rivers Run Red the creators of Immersive Workspaces
*This is a contentious statement, one though I feel needs to be said. If Second Life delivers what I think it can in 2010, it will be “game over” for the majority of the other vendors/platforms. Especially the ones that leverage off a similar immersive experience.
I was initially perturbed by finding myself labeled a consumer by Linden Lab last year and now finding myself placed primarily in the "Entertainment" category but just maybe this time the label fits. I once told someone Second Life reminded me of the Model Railroading hobby and culture.
If SL continues as is in the Entertainment category without finding a significant reason for growth we should all stop thinking content creation & micro-transactions will change the internet & the world & see it as just a hobby, the digital version of Model Railroading.
- Model Railroarding Magazine 2008 circluation: 146,648
- National Model Railroading Orginization nmra.org Membership: 14,486
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