What a strange blog post. Instead of taking a wholly American approach to the Second Life phenomenon and trying to see what kind of money can be squeezed out of it, how about just focusing on what a preparatory tool it is for real life? Anshe Chung obviously honed many of her real-life entrepreneurial skills by "playing" at Second Life. Isn't that incredible? Why aren't we talking about that phenomenon instead of "how can business cash in on these people?" And hey, did it ever occur to you that maybe Second Life's popularity is due in some part to the marvelous escape that it provides from the piranhas who can only think about how to exploit people who are simply trying to have fun?

Thanks for your comments, Addison. Your points are well taken. Second Life does strike me as a technologically cool place, and as I noted, my colleagues agree.

But bear in mind that InfoWorld is primarily a business technology magazine, which is why I took the angle I did. Personally, I deeply admire the creativity and business-savvy Chung and others like her have exhibited.

Also, the reality is that businesses are taking notice of the opportunities in this virtual world, whether Second Life users like it or not.

Now, from an end-user perspective, I wouldn't really care if business-types wanted to have press conferences or product unveilings in their own little parts of Second Life. However, if blatant ad placement were to crop up all over Second Life (e.g. brand-name strip malls or avatars wandering around wearing Coca-Cola or Starbucks gear), I think I'd be put off. As you say, it's meant to be an escape from the real world.

Ted, It seems to me you and/or Virginia might be making your call about Second Life's potential for B2B a little prematurely. To understand the possibilities, in all honesty, requires more investment of time than a "toe dipping."

The potential businesses see isn't immediate. Companies like IBM are looking at these virtual worlds to inform them of what a 3D Internet might look like. Sun Microsystems is looking at virtual world deployment through the filter of how Java and their gaming server might help businesses deploy virtual world technologies for gaming, education or social virtual world deployment.

Marketers on the other hand are experimenting with engaging consumers in immersive environments and creating experiences (rather than advertising) to support their brands. They are also trying to understand new content categories created by 360-degree environments.

And then their are the educators who are training the employees of the near future - the "game babies" as I call them, whose expectations about interactive experiences reach far beyond flat web pages.

I caution you and your readers to understand that Second Life is right now about social networks (just like MySpace, blogs or wikis). Wise companies are in those social spaces trying to understand how collaborative spaces benefit business. So, please applaud those who are foresighted enough to be jumping into 3D social networks to experiment now so they can postition themselves to capture the near-future opportunities.

Maybe we could all stand to expand our definition of "now" a little. :-)

I think that what scares me is the lack of limits, and I don't mean at all to be a killjoy, but if someone makes a hefty profit buying and selling virtual real estate, what are the rules that apply as far as Taxes, withdrawing money, etc. I understand that L$ translate roughly into US$ and also understand that there is a currency exchange on the site at which people will be able to buy and sell their money, but how will it affect everyone if soon we have a thriving community of people whose only business is virtual? I'm all for global economy, and I see the benefits of opening a marketplace to people in countries where this type of business could be extremely beneficial, but still... how realistic is all of this?

There's a few things which can be drawn from this. For example, it could be said to be a legitimate form of farming and the outsourcing of virtual property.

Second, Anshe Chung's millionaire status could be an announcement designed to mitigate the risk of her holdings.

These things easily demonstrate that this is real life business - and should be treated as such. In understanding the context of your article (as explained to Addison), I understand the general direction of where you're going with this and wish you luck; it would be good for you to do more than 'toe dipping' but you have to find the stories. Anshe's really not as much news as she used to be, but there are many imaginative things which are happening. There's a foreign exchange trader opening up, which will allow microinvestment - and on the social side, money is being made with virtual weddings.

We're just scratching the surface here... :-)

As left leaning as I am, I have to respect someone who can make a fortune appear out of thin air and hard work.

I want this to be integrated with The Sims 2. Of course I play too many computer games as it is.