Impressions of SL & Lively from a non-using geek.

Manny is a friend of mine, not in Second Life per se, but a great mind at tech and business and someone who keeps up on the news, I was having a discussion with him online about Lively and Second Life among other things and these were his reactions...
Noel: Can you read and critique for me?
Noel: http://www.ingmanndesign.com/

manny: the question about lively is, how do they sell text ads on it?

Noel: I'm sure they will, the question is whether or not they will allow some form of revenue generation for the people using/developing for it.
Noel: It makes sense for google, completely.

manny: well, it might be a bit like adwords, where you get a % of the clickthru
manny: but really, google is an advertising distribution company

Noel: Yeah most likely. What did you think about my analysis?

manny: not a search company
manny: i'm reading it now. interesting, but you're right: linden, tho, is more than a hosting company

Noel: That's true it is, but that's their revenue model is as a hosting company.

manny: user-generated content is hard to manage, which is why most places don't do it
manny: WoW, for example, makes millions
manny: w/o user creation

Noel: But that's also why WoW will never be a communication medium that replaces the web.

manny: but I agree, that's probably where the future is
manny: exactly - but it makes bazillions of dollars

Noel: True, and if that's what you're going for it's a great way to do it.
Noel: But you can't claim it's the 'future'
Noel: lol

manny: they (linden) do more than host, actually
manny: they maintain the world & tools, which is probably an unbelievable amount of work
manny: but in the long run, the experience they get will allow them to do more stuff down the road

Noel: Of course they do, I am not claiming that really, but that dosen't directly make them revenue.

Noel: They have to do that to support the hosting that provides their revenue.

manny: True, but the infrastructure enables that - it's what makes them different
manny: well, it's a market differentiator
manny: plus, it lets other minds work on stuff
manny: You can only do so much as a company. by unleashing your users, you allow your creation(s) to go places that you might never have thought of

Noel: Absolutely.
Noel: I'm downloading Lively now, lol
Noel: Just so I can reserve my name(s)

manny: The difference between Linden and Google is:
manny: Linden Labs: how can we help you make neat stuff and money
manny: Google: how can you help us make money?

Noel: Rofl
Noel: Want to be famous on my blog?

mannyveloso: sure!

Noel: I may just post this whole conversation, lol



So there's the conversation, and Manny is absolutely right about one thing, Linden Labs isn't just a hosting company, but they are a company, they aren't just interested in making me money and neat stuff, that's a side effect of how they chose to populate their world and create their revenue stream. It's one I think is worthwhile and incredibly cool, it's why I think they are the best first stab at the 'future' of the internet. Much of the discrepency between blog posts from me where I love Linden Labs and where I dislike them comes from their dual nature as a beneficial thing and a company that needs to maintain it's existance and bottom line. It makes it hard to love them, but one thing I always admire and respect is what they are trying to do. If that isn't clear from my continued virtual existance and the tone of this blog I owe them an apology.