Second Life: It's Nice To Visit...No successful technology company would operate today without investing serious resources into its internet presence. Will that be soon be true of Second Life, the 'virtual world' featured in both CRN and VARBusiness coverage this week? Though there are many dozens of virtual worlds, some with far more participants, it's Second Life that has garnered the most real world attention, with it's realistic avatars, sophisticated economy, and heavyweight supporters, including IBM, Cisco, and Sun, each of which is developing real estate in the virtual world. (Don't miss our slide show of tech company areas in Second Life.) Of course, those companies can afford to drop $10 million here or there and see what happens. Not so most of us. For a typical VAR, Second Life might be fun to visit, but don't close down that real-world location just yet. CRN editor Heather Clancy spoke to IBM partners participating in Second Life, and found them "intrigued" by the possiblities: "Warren Messner, a storage brand executive with Micro Strategies, an IBM Business Partner... envisions some important uses for the future: Companies, for example, could create animations of products being introduced, allowing briefing attendees to examine the technology more closely. Kick the virtual tires, so to speak... 'You can definitely communicate more effectively,' he says." Meanwhile, VARBusiness editor Lawrence Walsh reports on how vendors see their Second Life investment paying off: "IT vendors aren't necessarily selling products directly through Second Life, although some have the capability. Most are using their Second Life presence to foster relationships, conduct training and nurture their products' user groups. While still a nascent venture for many, most vendors see tremendous potential in using Second Life to training, enable and link their channel partners." IBM's Second Life investments remind me of their initial support for Linux when it was struggling to gain traction. Suddenly, IBM gave it enterprise credibility. The same could be happening here. Personally, I'm more of a Club Penguin type of guy. Over at Information Week, Mitch Wagner has been blogging on Second Life for some time. He also reports on the plans of Linden Labs, Second Life's creators, to open up the Second Life platform for other developers. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:29 PM, May 2, 2007 This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers. Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service. Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business. |
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