Is Infonet a tactical diversion?

The timing of the introduction of Infonet in the WA and at hubs sure is convenient.

I was a member of the press for a while in Washington DC and leaking a story or timing the release of a controversial decision was a run of the mill tactic for diverting attention away from "hot" issues.

It sure is interesting that the topic of dicsussion and controvery has turned away from elimination of telehubs and the loss of thousands of dollars by hub landowners as a result of that decision, and is now focused on Infonet.

Yes the editorial content in Infonet violates the TOS/CS without a doubt since member names and businesses are published in the subjective "Second Hell Tourbus: worst of SL" list, but lets keep our eye on the ball.

The issue of the thousands of dollars lost by members who relied upon a system put in place by LL is a valid issue of concern to many, many members. This issue has nothign to do with P2P since the introduciton of P2P DID NOT require the elimination of telehubs. Telehubs could have, and should have, remained intact as commercial centers and those who oppose hubs and prefer P2P could avoid hubs totally.

So lets not have our attention diverted away from this question:

Why is it necessary to eliminate telehubs when P2P can coexist with hub commercial centers?

For the record, I was in favor of keeping the hubs as a free transit means and charging a fee for P2P. They can coexist peacefully. If cats and dogs can do it, why not hubs and p2p?

If the lindens have shown us anything these last couple of months, it's that they have all these ideas, tell us about them, ask for feedback, and implement them regardless of feedback (cough classified ad pricing cough).

You also have to realize that they are running SL and have to have to place what's good for the platform above player wishes.

In the case of the classified add pricing, if you look at the classified's right now the whole first page is of people just putting a 0 in front of their name, or in one case 0>-------------------------- that is obviously not what the "name" field was designed for, and it is extremely annoying.

The new method lets you pay only 50lindens if you want, but the higher you pay the more likely you will be high on the list, discouraging people from beating the system by putting a number like 0 or 1 in the front.

In my experience with online worlds when devs ask for comments/feedback it takes something major that they might have overlooked to change their minds, because before they ask for feedback they have already had tons of meetings on the issue.

Thousands?

Who is losing thousands? How much exactly have they lost? What is that in comparison to the growth of the over-all economy?

People need to quit it with the flaming rhetoric and start basing their assumptions on facts rather than their perceptions when it comes to quantifiable matters.

Perhaps the idea is not only to divert attention away from discussing the telehub situation but to divert traffic towards the notorious InfoNet terminals, in order to replace some of lost traffic.

InfoNet is the result of some good old fashioned networking between The Learning Center, Squag, and LL. I suspect LL thought it would be a good idea to have a ready-made information exchange for telehubs. I suspect they thought it would be a convenience and save them trying to figure out what the hell else to do with them (if not rip them out all together).

In typical fashion, they are not very possessed of foresight, nor do they seem to learn or listen. It has been fairly and evenly conveyed on numerous occasions that people want to build with LL. They want to help. They want the chance to do so. All things considered, this should have gone out on the same 'call for entries' type of vehicle as the train stations and various other items.

It isn't favoritism as much as it is ignorance. That doesn't really change much except removal of the nefarious intent that some are so eagerly to assign.

I do not think LL is savvy enough to work diversion on that level. There is absolutely nothing to demonstrate otherwise or in any manner support the assertion they are capable of that level of deliberate manipulation. All in all, they are more reactionary than they should be, less responsive than they should be (paradoxical as it sounds, it isn't) and generally as twitchy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

You know, the kind of nervous, scattered, not-quite-able-to-maintain that you seek right before the money runs out....

I think it can be explained most parsimoniously thusly:I hadn't even heard of InfoNet before this debacle and have no connection with it in any way. I just think that "half-assed" is the best first approximation when trying to figure out why LL does anything. "Tactical" is a pretty generous term when applied to LL decisions.

Greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist. Jokin.

You are reading my mind....

My cats do not charge my dog to hang with them.

There are at least three separate issues:

1. The telehub issue: Repurposing the telehubs in the first place, without keeping them as an alternative mode of transportation (charging for P2P, or restricting P2P to premium players). Doing so regardless of assurances that such was not going to be done as late as August, and doing so with no compensation to those who had bought telehub land. This is a done deal.

2. The issue Cristiano brought up: Giving the telehubs to one private, for-profit business, Infonet, without bidding out the job or making their own info center. Letting that business profit off the rest of us. Somehow we managed to have telehubs before without having Infonet on them/own them.

3. The fact that that private resident(s) now has official sanction to not only decide which classifed ads they will accept (and charge for) but also to provide editorial content as to which businesses and places are top picks and which suck and should be avoided. And all this to appear on Linden-sanctioned, Linden-owned land.

Points 2 and 3 are what count now. The bottom line is Infonet has no business on Linden Land anywhere, anymore than anyone else's kiosk or business does.

If something like Infonet is to exist there, they should exist there only as a means to dispense Linden information, along with a classified listing - a listing which would be FREE to anyone wishing to be listed in it, with no control as to who is allowed and who isn't (beyond mature/PG considerations), and with no editorial content as to that resident(s) opinion of that business.

Otherwise, they should exist where every other such business exists - on private land. On private land, they can accept or reject whoever they want, charge whatever they want, and make any kind of editorial commentary they want.

What we are going to have now is essentially comparable to President Bush giving the front yard of the White House to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart then gets to choose who will get exposure, and who won't. (Not to mention who will get panned.) And - everyone actually pays Wal-Mart for their chance to be featured on the White House lawn.

Infonet should not only not go in the new telehub areas, it should be gone from the Welcome Areas as well.

coco

I think the nervousness displayed here might be a result of LL actually starting to act like a company and making decisions in their best interest rather than checking first. Why devote human resources to develop something that is already available. Vacation days, health care coverage, these are things that'll drag a small company right under.

For additional clarifications about infoNet

Please read this thread...

Clicky


Feel free to IM me, and I will attempt to answer any additional questions you might have.

Thank you,

Venya Salome
Manager
infoNet FreePress
Gnat Technologies

I respect that many have an emotional reaction to the P2P issue on both sides of the fence. However, the idea that a significant amount of money is being lost by some members of the community is not hyperbole.

I am just one resident. The land I own is 100m from the telehub at its closest. I paid a total of L$192,000 for my 16km of Land, at an average price of $12/sqm.

Post P2P, I expect the value of my land to drop to $6/sqm. This is a loss in value of over $350 US. I'm just one resident, who's not even on top of the Telehub.

I agree that $350 is a drop in the bucket to the SL economy. But I think if you multiply out the others that are in a similar boat as I am, you'll have your thousands. If you're questioning whether a single user has lost Thousands - true. Those folks are probably limited to ones like Anshe.

What's frustrated me the most about this process, is the insensitivity some in the community have expressed towards those who are losing out. I can live with my land dropping in value. I can live with no compensation. But its tough to stomach some folks openly mocking those who are in a tough spot now, as if we are just collateral damage in the cause to collectively punish Anshe.

I have an old notecard from a meeting with Squag that gives some very interesting insight to this whole thing. I am disappointed to see Squag posting elsewhere that she had no idea LL was interested or that telehubs were a possibility, as both were distinct items we discussed.

I will not be releashing this card, but I do mention it for relevancy.

That is all.

Good question. Seems silly to me.

They can announce a need, and give it a deadline of 4 days. And believe me, plenty of people will bust their butts to get in either a proposal (if that is what is asked for) or the finished product.

We're talking a matter of days, here people - that make the difference between handing someone something on a platter and making sure everyone has had a chance.

And guess what - it is quite within the realm of possibility that with 90k members, somebody else might even come up with something better than what the Lindens already know about.

coco