Settle Down Philip Rosedale

I can respect Philip Rosedale’s imagination and excitement in creating a virtual world and his high ambitions for it to take off, but… sorry to burst your bubble, but SecondLife seems to appeal to a specified demographic and shared interest. And frankly Rosedale is getting a bit ahead of himself.

Rosedale seems to be a believer, a dreamer. Despite his rambles of statistics, 20,000 CPUs are connected and simulate, 50, 000 people per day, in contrast the units used are far smaller in comparison to any other world impacting technology.

I can respect his social aspirations and how he is aware of the immediate communication and open forum and in hopes utilized for further education and tool. However, Rosedale neglects to represent any obstacles that SeconldLife may have or have not, been considered.
For example, he neglects to state the countries that lack internet accessibility and what high percentage that most likely is. In contrast he announces the U.K. and Europe make up 55% of the SecondLife community. For all the other developing countries with slacking educational systems- where one would acquire skills to operate a computer, let alone a virtual world online program,- is slim to none. Thus, really minimizing his marketing population and those accessible.

I worry that Rosedale intestinally neglected to discuss the physical and mental side effects of this virtual world he has created. Questions such as do individuals become withdrawn from social situations? Is there disconnectedness with family or people, relationship issues? Do health problems, between eyes and other issues, occur? Back problems from sitting, headaches from monitors? I would like to hear what Rosedale has to say on health and behavioral issues regarding his virtual world.

SecondLife is a virtual world where anything and everything can happen all the while operating with a virtual economy. For those who do use SecondLife, most likely excel and take full advantage of its features, designs, and simulations. Those like doctors, scientist, and architects.
Rosedale continues on stating that it is a world of infinite possibility and created with a non- Utopian intent. To me, I can easily see how SecondLife is a guilty pleasure to some. It allows for individuals to socially invert yourself to a virtual interpretation. This virtual world is non- committal, but still very much economically and consumption driven. The reality is that Secondlife is not real life and that it is important to be able between the two.

Finally, not to squash big dreams, but Philip Rosedale sounds like a bad car salesman. It seems like his intent is talking big and exemplifying his success, with total disregard towards the negative effects. Again further pondering leads me to believe this is one bad social experiment…