What is Second Life?
Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual community created entirely by its membership.
Members assume an identity and take up residence in Second Life, creating a
customized avatar or personage to represent themselves. The avatar moves about in
the virtual world using mouse control and intuitive keyboard buttons.
Second Life’s virtual world also includes sound; wind in the swaying trees, babbling brooks,
audible conversation, and built-in chat and instant messaging. Residents buy property, start
businesses, game with other residents, create objects, join clubs, attend classes, or just
hang out. The rendering of Second Life is remarkable, making it an instant guilty pleasure.
[…]
Property purchased in Second Life is owned by the buyer using a scheme referred to as
Internet Protocol (IP) copyright. Some owners reward members for staying at their property
with Linden dollars, Second Life’s currency. Linden dollars can also be purchased with real
dollars using a credit card. Part of the exchange rate goes to Linden Inc., with
Second Life purportedly generating over 64 million USD a year.
Real world corporations are also taking interest in the virtual world. […] Mega-giant
companies have been considering corporate training classes in Second Life – a business
model that could save corporations, big and small, millions of dollars in travel and lodging
fees. Future possibilities include virtual universities that replicate their real-life counterparts
with classrooms and professors teaching interactive classes in real time.[…]
Just where will Second Life’s virtual world lead? The answer is limited only by the creativity
that continues to shape it. While it remains to be seen whether or not it will compete with
the ubiquity of the World Wide Web for providing real-world education and services, we just
might one day in the not-so-distant future wonder how we ever did without it.
According to the text, Second Life becomes an instant guilty pleasure because of