Second Life is a virtual world in which anyone can belong to. It was developed in 2003 and has grown into a very big deal. Its fan base has grown to about 20 million registered accounts with many people having multiple accounts. Even countries are beginning to open virtual embassies in which you can talk to a virtual ambassador!!! Countries like Maldives ( a small island nation in the Indian ocean) and Sweden are cashing in on Second Life. Even Ohio University has a Second Life, and i even got a email from OU about a Second Life orientation. Here's a video on OU's Second Life.
Anyone can make a avatar and they can be varied in many ways. You can choose your sex, physical appearances, and clothes. Anyone can chat with each other through IM's, local chat and global chat. Avatars can even fly around or drive vehicles.
Second Life even has its own economy which consist of Linden Dollars (after the company Linden Research inc.). If you have about 250 L$ (Linden Dollars) you have approximately 1 US dollar. Even in a virtual world real estate cost money. People have to buy land for about $5 (US) to about $195. People can even buy estates and rent out land to other people for L$. Imagine what its like to miss rent for a month in Second Life :( . Second Life even banned in game gambling on sporting events. Linden Research invited some Law enforcement officials into Second Life casinos.
So what do you think is Second Life a gem in the world of technology or just a online Sim's game that will eventually run its course?. Do you think this type of technology will grow with more countries/university's/companies opening up virtual worlds? Will this technology in the future make it possible for students to go to virtual classes or maybe even have workers go to virtual jobs?
13 comments:
It's a scary thought of how real second life can be. Like with the money and everything, it's weird. You could get people buying and selling real money for the money in that game, which would totally kill the value of the dollar, because everybody's faith would be in the money of this game. I mean, it's a very extreme possibility, but it's not by any means impossible to happen. Whenever there's new technology like this there's always somebody somewhere trying ti manipulate and make it into something negative. It's just the world we live in.
I find Second Life to be very intriguing indeed, and it DOES sound like it would be a fun experience, but why not actually do all these things in real life? Doing some actual living might be more fun than sitting on the computer and creating a fake life for yourself. I find the new technology to be a positive thing in the sense that people are making advancements, but what is so bad about going outside, taking a breath of fresh air, and maybe using money you can actually hold in your hands?
Second Life, to me, just seems to be an imaginary world one would use to escape their own life, and you can't run away from life.
I think it sounds like a great idea, it all depends on the people who use it,and since it is growing so fast, there are going to be people who use it in the wrong ways (I dont know really how,but it's a given). Other than that I think it is really cool that you can talk to ambassadors and people all over the world through this. It also sounds like a lot of fun. I am sure people get sucked into it for hours on end. The money part of it adds the game part which I probably won't like because I dont want to spend all my time trying to earn "money". All in all i think it sounds like a really neat idea and I am excited to learn how to use it. Learning how to incorporate computers into my school work hasn't been easy, but I am glad that we have the chance to learn about things such as second life and wiki, even if I won't use them a lot, at least I have knowledge about them and how to use them.
I think Second Life like any other virtual world has it's interactive appeal. With new innovations and technology it'll only improve and expand. Even if Second Life does run it's course, it'll be replaced by other virtual realities. There are many possibilities for this technology. I don't know if eventually we'll go to work, and school through these things but it's highly likely. As we spend more and more time indoors and on our computers and tv screens. Our life in the future may only revolve around our virtual existence. Some people have already started to date/find people virtually.
I can't believe that second life has its own economy. that's just... weird. I don't think second life will be as enveloping as people think. On the other hand i do think that the ability to talk to a real person on the other side of the planet in a virtual world can make for some promising experiences
I think it's kind of a cool idea but when I first heard about it in class I basically though it was just another version of The Sims. I mean that kind of dyed down even though it was pretty huge when it came out. I think it's cool but at the same time it's kind of creepy. Instead of making real friends in the real world people have confined themselves to their computer screens to hang out with other people sitting in front of their computer screens. At the same time that it is pretty amazing to think about the possibilities of talking to people in other places around the world that share the same thoughts and ideals as you it's always going to have a sort of creepy edge around it that I can't ever seeing myself liking.
What is happening to the real world? Second Life, to me, sounds like people escaping into a virtual world because they...what, don't want to face reality? It sounds like Second Life is just a more up-scale version of the Sims. I mean...it practically is the Sims with all this nonsense of an economy and real estate. Yeah, it's cool to be able to connect to people like that, but it doesn't make up for face to face conversation. Second Life sounds more like a video game that people get sucked into for hours on end and forget to live real life.
i thiml second life is a good concept for the time being. I think this was good idea basically to take the sims and make it online and more real. I think it will last a good while until they start having hacking problems and people pretending they are ppl more important in the real world. Also alot of stuff we say and do on online chats like that offend many people from other countries so that could cause a little fall after a while. for the most part it is a great step forward in technology.
Second Life seems like a pretty neat idea. I think it will definitely gain popularity among universities and companies. Although this seems new and exciting, ill have to agree its kinda weird. This goes back to the whole idea that the world today is losing social skills and is gaining more online skills. I guess second life can be a positive experience if you don't take it to the extreme. I don't think it should be used to completely replace real life classes or jobs for work.
From reading an article on second life, I do not think that teachers should be able to use second life as a virtual classroom, with their students at home. The article stated a good point that without a teacher being able to physically look at the students face, they won't be able to see their eyes rolling back into their head, or a student on the other side of the computer sleeping instead of playing attention, or wandering around the kitchen looking for something to eat. Another article I read brought up a point that people get side-tracked on what they are supposed to be doing in second life, and start leisurely socializing with other people instead. I do however find that second life seems really cool, and I am excited to use it!
In my opinion Second Life is not just another sims. Sims was a game that I played in 6th grade with all of my friends. Second Life is still a game but there is more of a point to it then just sims. You can have class in Second Life and you are using real money. I think Second Life will last much longer than the sims because other people are backing it up other than little kids that want to play a game. And it is becoming more popular by the day. Some people can just look at Second Life as a class room or a game but other important stuff can go on in second life. A class or business meeting can be conducted. Only with time this technology will grow and become more and more useful and finding more ways to use it.
The thing with second life is that, well what i think, it is still experimental. Its powers haven't really been understood yet. I think in a few years second life will either be a huge part if everyday life or never used again. It depends on what we figure out about it the experimenting with it. Second life is pretty awesome though. It's cool how you can just mess around in a virtual world like that.
The opportunity to offer free education over a free 3 dimensional social based application is an interesting thought. However that doesn't mean real world experience isn't better. Social Interaction is a big part of job's for interviews for getting along with your co-workers. Taking all online courses and being home schooled or something along those lines you really lose the ability to socialize.
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