I have bet on a lot of losing technologies before. I still love my Dreamcast, Virtual Boy, and Neo Geo Pocket Color, but unfortunately I am the only one. So every time I see main stream coverage of Second Life I feel happy inside, and this is one of those times. I don't know how I missed this when it happened, but CNBC covered Second Life. CNBC is that financial channel that you flip past really quickly while switching between CNN and reruns of Friends. Does this mean that Second Life isn't a fad? Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell.
It seems like every company is looking to get a foothold in Second Life, which is mostly good news for residents. We get more content, cooler events, and more people to interact with. However, currently there is a extremely friendly atmosphere that I worry could be jeopardized with too much corporate influence. What is the proper balance between cool and commercialized? This is probably not a huge worry anytime soon, but if coverage by financial press brings big business into Second Life will we prefer virtual worlds like The Lounge, by Doppelganger? This is an openly fully advergaming MMOG, where Doppelganger has control of what the advertisers do. In Second Life advertisers can do whatever they want unfettered by any controlling body. Generally I think freedom trumps all, but I say that now because there isn't a giant ad for a tobacco company visible in on the map.
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