A Second Life

For a lot of people the dawning of the technological-information era has come like a swift slap in the face. Though it's often thought that the industrial revolution instigated the biggest changes in life as we know it, the modern-computer era has trumped that...easily. Some have found themselves still trying to figure out what Myspace is, or when the heck ipods became capable of showing better quality videos than the best tv's money could buy only 15 years ago (heck, even 10). Others have embraced the world of IM's, email on their phones and consumerism on ebay.

Then, there are those of the world know as Second Life.

Consider yourself behind the times, trust me.

Second life is an online program, or game, or simulation - that has become very much real...at least to over 1 Million people. And at least some savvy businesses. American Apparel, the clothing company, opened a store this past summer in a virtual world. Some of you may ask what the benefit could be, some of you may know-

Here's the deal.

In Second Life you create an avatar, and depending on the time you spend and the amount of Linden Dollars you have (SL's Currency)- you can clothe this person to your liking, buy land or even an island, a car, a virtual laptop, furniture, tv's....it goes on. Linden Dollars are cheap- 200L dollars is about 3-5USdollars*(depending on where you're from). This can buy you plenty- but more importantly- its providing the makers with millions and millions. And now- the corporates are coming into the fray. Consider AA one of the first, there will be more. Many entrepenuers have made money, making objects of thier desire, to sell in this virtual world - which comes with a 3d modeling ability (the more you know, the better you can be).

And get this- there are news feeds. REAL news feeds...and virtual ones. You can get your real world news, in this program, or the news of current events happening within the program of Second Life. What about an update of a concert being held by Suzanne Vega? Yup- already happened. Of course, you had to be at the show- 'it was great'- and you could only have seen it/heard it if you were in the world of Second Life. They literally made a virtual guitar, that through commands on a REAL keyboard- played like any other guitar, in real time. Watch this-Suzzane Vega's Guitar in Second Life

It's a little bit intimidating- hell, who needs a second life when the first one is so hard to managed as is? Well, believe me- that isn't stopping people, and it won't. This will continue to become a very large presence in our world, virtual or not. The more companies take part, the more virtual money is traded for REAL currency, the more real this will be to everyone.

So- when are more artists going to take part? Could this be an outlet for magazine writers, novelists? Could you sell a story though this? I bet you probably could, or will in the future. And considering that- checking my data now- over 600,000 Us Dollars have been spent in the last 24 hours in this little online world- You could probably make a decent living.

It might not be something you 'need or want' in your life- but who thinks it could be their best aim at success?

*Currency changes, so figures could be slightly off.