Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale (Philip Linden) and COO / CTO Bob Komin (BK Linden) addressed crowds of Second Life Residents yesterday at a town hall meeting.
Philip shared his perspective on the next phase of development and focus for the Lab, and the take away meme was three words that as he described, were what the user experience should be and would be easy for everyone to remember. No, not those three words - these three words : Fast, Easy, Fun.
Philip talked about several of the most obvious pain points for Residents today - lag, crashing, search, the new viewer, communication, the marketplace and the economy - and over time we'll have evidence of whether those words turn into tangible results.
I'm sure there will be great recaps, parsing and parodies of Philip's talk around the SLogosphere but if you would prefer to do your own thinking, I posted the audio of the talk here or you can watch the video replay, courtesy of Treet.tv.
I started to do my own deconstruction, but honestly my mind kept coming back to this part of Philip's opening remarks.
"The fundamental belief that I have is that Second Life and virtual worlds are going to profoundly affect the human experience, profoundly, and in a positive way. That is the mission of the company to make that happen and it's my personal inspiration and dream to see that happen.
And I think the very fact that although we face many challenges as a company, as a community, and we're here today to talk about a lot of them, I'd just like to start by saying that nothing that I've seen in these last few years has done anything but strengthen the certainty that I have that that fundamental vision is correct.
That virtual worlds are going to have a huge impact on humanity. And, if I can be part of that in any way I want to."
That's not a vision about newbs per fortnight.
That is a vision that has diverse and widespread interpretations and applicability - from the global to the intimate. Whether you want to raise awareness about global issues, find new ways for colliding cultures to come together, meet people you would never otherwise meet, learn a new skill, fall in love or just earn enough extra income to send your kids to private school - affecting the human condition is a solid goal.
I know it's going to take a herculean effort for Fast, Easy, Fun to materialize. I'm pretty convinced that the things that are truly broken will take longer to fix than it took to break them in the first place or than some have the patience to wait. I know I cannot bring myself to use Viewer 2.X regularly in the current state unless I'm medicated. I realize that our collective shades of gray will not quickly resolve to a pristine image that satisfies us all.
Despite all of that - maybe we can make profoundly positive changes - in ourselves and in each other.
If I can be a part of that in any way, I want to.
Share Some Grace:
