Unraveling the Second Life hype

 
Published on 2006-12-16 by John Collins.

I like a bit of escapism. Once I year I like to go on a long hike into the wilderness somewhere (last summer to Iceland) to get away from it all and live a radically different lifestyle, albeit briefly. What I find fascinating is when people choose to escape to a fantasy world of polygons, such as online worlds like Second Life:

"A story too good to check" - http://www.valleywag.com/tech/second-life/a-story-too-good-to-check-221252.php

I agree with the sentiment of the author in terms of the popular media's willingness to take success stories like Second Life at face value, so it is good to see someone delve a little deeper.


Updated 2021 : note that the above post is out-of-date, given this post was originally published in 2006, but is left here for archival purposes. I have unlinked the original link to Valleywag, as it seems they have shut down. Second Life however is still going strong.