Second Life Successor Intended to Be Multi-Platform & Attract "Hundreds of Millions" -- I.E. Very Different from Second Life

Two of the most interesting things said by Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg about Second Life 2 in his Engadget interview? First of all, it's going to be "Multi-device from day one" (including phones, he mentions). Second of all, this:

"We're building the next-generation platform for hundreds of millions of people; not for millions of people."

In other words, very different from Second Life in some fundamental ways. Also, these stated intentions should lead us to this conclusion:

If Linden Lab is successful with what they plan, Second Life users will only be a small fraction of the larger userbase. Worth keeping in mind, when talking about such grandiose, implausible proposals as importing old Second Life content into a successor with far more ambitious plans.

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[A.J.]

Everything is just talk until someone ponies up the goods.

Right now, Second Life users are everything.

Schemes and dreams don't pay the bills.

[Joe]

Hey I'm building a car that can go 10,000mph, not 1,000mph. Just because it has never been done doesn't mean it can't be done.

And if it doesn't even leave the garage, it still looks pretty damn good!

[Tesla Miles]

I think Ebbe's statement has been taken out of context - he didn't say the new platform would 'attract' hundreds of millions, he said it would be 'FOR' hundreds of millions, so he's talking in terms of scalability, it would work better than it does now when there are more people logged in.

Also I think he means that the new platform would be aimed at the newbie user with a reduced learning curve. Second Life was never created with the 'virtual fashionista' in mind, so with all the third party fixes for a better avatar, with all the options for dressing the avatar it can be an intimidating process for the new user.

[Josef Balbozar]

Interesting as some would say, cannot help noticing that the new version is technologically just as 'now' as the old .... think of the development going forward from here :-)

[DontGetHairy]

Who cares what OS 0.8 + SL 1.0 + SL 2.0 platforms are trying to catch up on, when 3.0 platforms are there for benchmarking -

Cinema-Class Book Marketing on Steam for Entrepreneurs > Dear Esther
http://store.steampowered.com/app/203810/
Raise the sound volume and watch the trailer

[DontGetHairy]

Ebbe Altberg demonstrates more Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability than Wagner James Au, and a few other immersive world journalists running around...

It's time to embrace the change in corporate culture!

[DontGetHairy]

Jessica Lyon’s Opinion « Firestorm Viewer – The Phoenix Firestorm Project Inc.
http://www.firestormviewer.org/jessica-lyons-opinion/

[Shockwave yareach]

If it is not the ONLY SL, if it is a second grid that doesn't share inventory and land with today's SL, it will fail. It will fail for the same reason other grids haven't taken off -- we have too much money, time, and community to move away. I like the idea of a big improvement to SL which is long overdue and had better fix the many terrible problems we've suffered with for 11 years. But we have to have one and only one sl -- our current stuff and land should be sent to the new incarnation of SL.

When WoW makes a major change, they don't make everyone start over again and lose all their stuff. They know everyone would quit if they did that. It's incredible that a company which once insisted it would become the 3d internet cannot grasp so simple a concept. Move all existing grid and stuff into the new grid and you'll have instant usage and instant merchandise being sold within it. That stuff may not incorporate the newest tech, but you'll get the latest bells later. But a virgin grid where nobody has anything for sale and counting on the builders to build your world for you again is not going to work.

Make it one SL. If we wanted to rebuild from scratch, we'd have left for Inworldz where land is much cheaper.

[irihapeti]

over on sluniverse way down in the chat Wolkenreiter pretty much nailed it

like SL but simpler

[joe]

@Don'tGetHairy
"Ebbe Altberg demonstrates more Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability than Wagner James Au, and a few other immersive world journalists running around..."

Well that's like saying, "Kim Jong Il has more Transparency, Integrity and Accountability than Hitler."

So in a certain away, you are correct.