The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life

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Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, Second Life, Virtual worlds, The Virtual Whirl



Second Life has just seen its seventh anniversary (called its seventh birthday, only it technically isn't -- the original birthday is in March, but the anniversary is in June. There's history there). It's also traditionally a time when Linden Lab and Second Life users most often treat each other as enemies and obstacles; and it is a time for retrospectives and for considering the future.

With the departure of Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon (the press release release says "stepping down," but the day prior to the release many Linden staffers were saying that Kingdon was fired) Linden Lab has hit a turning point -- or the end of another era.

Accordingly, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to look at the history of Second Life, starting back in 1999 and continuing to the present day. Or at least as much as we can cover the ten-year history of something so rich and diverse in the available space.

Second Life is quite legitimately a phenomenon (and even won an Emmy award). It was also something of an accident, since it wasn't what Linden Lab started out to make.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life

The Virtual Whirl: A brief history of Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.




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