IBM partners with Linden Lab: NWN prediction fulfilled?
"By the end of 2007, Linden announces it's on an IPO track-- or partners with/is purchased by a major company." That was one of three predictions New World Notes readers made last January. Has it just come to pass today? This just in from San Jose's Virtual Worlds Conference:
IBM and Linden Lab's Official Announcement: "The partnership has now been officially announced, with more
specific plans on what the goals are for making virtual worlds
interoperable..."
I think the announcement is great and will be seen by many as a kind of accolade for virtual worlds technology. I would not hold my breath for any quick results, though. Interoperability is NOT achieved by technical standards alone (they are an important foundation, though). Virtual worlds will be much more diverse in many ways, than some business people (who sometimes tend to forget that these platforms are used for entertainment purposes first) envision.
I would like it to cross more easily between different virtual worlds (and the web), of course. I am not sure, how much of my avatar (besides the name) and of my virtual posessions I will be able to take with me. :)
Some reasoning behind these doubts here:
http://otherland.blogs.com/group/2007/10/ibm-give-second.html
All the other aspects of the agreement (besides just "universal avatar" are interesting, too - and might be more easily achieved because they can be tackled "under the hood" of the virtuial worlds machines.
Posted by: Markus (Pham Neutra) | Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 11:39 PM