Exclusive Interview with Mark Kingdon - LL CEO
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Kitty Barnett
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11-05-2009 13:49
From: M Our mission remains what it's always been: to connect people in a digital world and in doing so, improve the human condition. For that to happen, Second Life needs to extend and enhance people's everyday lives. I know that sounds grandiose and mundane at the same time. But isn't that life? Heavenly and corporeal all at the same time? I'd suggest that LL take a long and hard look and split up its user and income base into "uses SL for entertainment" and "uses SL to enhance real life". He isn't actually saying anything different than what Philip has been saying for a long while now, but unless I'm somehow missing it I'd think that the overwhelming majority of residents and the majority of LL's income is due to people using SL as an "entertainment platform" and aren't all that interested in SL being warped to be something completely different. I'd personally love nothing more than for LL to be happy with SL the way it is and focus primarily on supporting an entertainment oriented SL for residents. While I certainly don't think SL is a game, it would be hilarious if Blizzard talked about wanting to transform World of Warcraft into something that'll "improve the human condition". SL as entertainment and SL as an "everyday RL enhancement" are two incompatible endgoals and if they really want to persue the latter then maybe they should just create a spin-off/sistercompany that focus solely on that and really has nothing in common with SL other than the technology it's based on. |
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Argent Stonecutter
Emergency Mustelid
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
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11-05-2009 13:56
Oh, I missed this. From: M
Our mission remains what it's always been: to connect people in a digital world and in doing so, improve the human condition.
If your mission statement doesn't give the reader any idea why it's your mission statement, as opposed to Microsoft's or Cisco's or Walmart's, then you need a new mission statement. Let's go back to "your world, your imagination". Or even "we glue macaroni to things". |
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Talarus Luan
Ancient Archaean Dragon
Join date: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 4,831
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11-05-2009 14:27
"It is our mission to have a mission statement that states what our mission is."
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Rhonda Huntress
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Join date: 21 Dec 2008
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11-05-2009 14:27
Kitty, I have seen a few other things you have said before and they do make perfect sense. At one time I had the feeling LL as a whole and M in perticular did not care much about how the rank and file users felt. I am starting to see that I was grossly underestimating them. I am feeling the 90% of the people who are on the main grid this week are not only unimportant but unnecessary and unwanted in the future of SL. They will be dropping the thousands in order to woo the millions. I am wondering if they will even support content creation and sales or just let anything that exists in world be free for the taking. Someone's fantastic build will be just like a link on a facebook page to be copied at will.
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Brenda Connolly
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11-05-2009 14:50
From: Joshooah Lovenkraft I'm going to edit my post to include the following:
Do you like the direction the company is going? If not, and taking into account the responsibilities of a CEO and their accountability to the Board of Directors and its investors in growing a company, what strategic direction would you suggest Kingdon take to ensure the future success of Linden Lab? Simple. Step back and see what SL really is, and look at who is really using it. Passionately, creatively, loyally, inspite of LL's bungling. Engage them, elicit their ideas work with them. Make SL into something they will nurture and grow for you. They will spend their money. They don't have mega bucks like the coprs do, but they will truly love SL, not try to bleed it dry and then toss it aside. SL is a niche product, it will always be.There is nothing wrong with that. The niche keeps growing. It still can be very profitable. LL needs to stop this dream of LL being the New Internet. It isn't.LL couldn't manage even if it were. There is nothing saying that LL HAS to reach, "The Masses". Let it attract whoeevr, and those that are meant for it will saty and make it grow., if LL would run it properly. As it stands now, they are doing what corporations always do when something unique comes along. They get greedy, they make unreal expectations and they fiddle with things until it becomes a big, bland , boring and banal piece of crap. SL will be this in the hands of the current management.
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Brenda Connolly
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11-05-2009 14:52
From: Kitty Barnett I'd suggest that LL take a long and hard look and split up its user and income base into "uses SL for entertainment" and "uses SL to enhance real life".
He isn't actually saying anything different than what Philip has been saying for a long while now, but unless I'm somehow missing it I'd think that the overwhelming majority of residents and the majority of LL's income is due to people using SL as an "entertainment platform" and aren't all that interested in SL being warped to be something completely different.
I'd personally love nothing more than for LL to be happy with SL the way it is and focus primarily on supporting an entertainment oriented SL for residents. While I certainly don't think SL is a game, it would be hilarious if Blizzard talked about wanting to transform World of Warcraft into something that'll "improve the human condition".
SL as entertainment and SL as an "everyday RL enhancement" are two incompatible endgoals and if they really want to persue the latter then maybe they should just create a spin-off/sistercompany that focus solely on that and really has nothing in common with SL other than the technology it's based on. If I had read this before my post above, I wouldn't have had write it. Well said.
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Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
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Brenda Connolly
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11-05-2009 14:53
From: Rhonda Huntress That's part of the growth that ML mentioned. At this rate, in 3 more years SL will grow to the point that no one will log on at all! Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded. *Yogi Berra
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Melita Magic
On my own terms.
Join date: 5 Jun 2008
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11-05-2009 14:59
I admit I was surprised to read that M goes shopping. I think that's darling.  (I had pictured the CEO never going in world I guess. Reminds me what they say about assumptions.) |
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Brenda Connolly
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11-05-2009 15:11
From: Katheryne Helendale I admit, I too came away from reading that interview with a warm, fuzzy feeling. But, in all honesty, it's a feeling I have felt rather often here lately - right before the other shoe fell. I came out of it feeling greasy and dirty. Like I was buying a used car.
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Melita Magic
On my own terms.
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11-05-2009 15:13
/me wants to know where M shops.  |
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Amity Slade
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11-05-2009 15:22
From: Melita Magic I admit I was surprised to read that M goes shopping. I think that's darling. (I had pictured the CEO never going in world I guess. Reminds me what they say about assumptions.) Are there confirmed sightings of him in-world? It's one thing for him to say that part of his routine is participating in-world. But it's another thing if, every day over the past year, something has come up to break up his normal routine such that he couldn't get to the participating-in-world part. |
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Amity Slade
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11-05-2009 15:29
By the way, want to know how much M Linden socializes in Second Life? Maybe his Profile 2nd Life description provides a clue:
"Hi all!
"So many of you have reached out to welcome me in my first hours as a Linden. It's heartwarming and I thank you.
"PS My avatar is in beta ... expect me to continue to make changes, add and subtract body fat, experiment with my nose, change clothes, tweak the hair, etc. Hey, I am a work-in-progress."
He shows to be a member of a whopping total of two Groups (at least of those that are visible). He has one Pick (his office).
Looks like an abandoned account to me.
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Joshooah Lovenkraft
Just Joshin'
Join date: 28 Dec 2007
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11-05-2009 15:29
From: Amity Slade Are there confirmed sightings of him in-world? It's one thing for him to say that part of his routine is participating in-world. But it's another thing if, every day over the past year, something has come up to break up his normal routine such that he couldn't get to the participating-in-world part. Yes there are confirmed sightings of M Linden in world:  Back story to the pic: http://gridexpectations.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/i-met-m-linden-well-sort-of-lol/
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Autumn Palen
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Join date: 24 Feb 2007
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11-05-2009 15:45
From: Amity Slade Are there confirmed sightings of him in-world? It's one thing for him to say that part of his routine is participating in-world. But it's another thing if, every day over the past year, something has come up to break up his normal routine such that he couldn't get to the participating-in-world part. I mentioned on the first page of this thread where I saw him once in-world...it was a very quick visit. |
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Amity Slade
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11-05-2009 15:51
From: Autumn Palen I mentioned on the first page of this thread where I saw him once in-world...it was a very quick visit. I missed it the first time around. Quite the telling sighting. And actually, it conforms to what M Linden reported in the article about the time he spends in Second Life ... He just didn't mention that he does all those things in 60 seconds. |
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Argent Stonecutter
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Join date: 20 Sep 2005
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11-05-2009 15:57
What's his UUID?
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Ciaran Laval
Mostly Harmless
Join date: 11 Mar 2007
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11-05-2009 16:03
From: Argent Stonecutter What's his UUID? 2441..... Wait a minute, what are you going to do??? |
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Brenda Connolly
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11-05-2009 16:11
From: Ciaran Laval 2441.....
Wait a minute, what are you going to do??? Hopefully the same thing he is doing to us.... 
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Marianne McCann
Feted Inner Child
Join date: 23 Feb 2006
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11-05-2009 16:21
From: Joshooah Lovenkraft Yes there are confirmed sightings of M Linden in world: (He's the shorter person in this photo)  (He's the fellow to the left of me here in the Mosh monorail station on a particular evening) 
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Joshooah Lovenkraft
Just Joshin'
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11-05-2009 16:31
From: Marianne McCann
(He's the fellow to the left of me here in the Mosh monorail station on a particular evening)
"on a particular evening" lol
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Ciaran Laval
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Join date: 11 Mar 2007
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11-05-2009 16:37
From: Brenda Connolly Hopefully the same thing he is doing to us.... I sincerely hope not, Argent isn't that sort of Ferret for a start. However M did say he was unconventional, I'm not sure he's that unconventional! |
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Argent Stonecutter
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11-05-2009 16:41
Completely off topic, but too cute to leave unposted:  |
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Pandorah Ashdene
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11-05-2009 17:57
From: Argent Stonecutter What's his UUID? 244195d6-c9b7-4fd6-9229-c3a8b2e60e81 |
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Viktoria Dovgal
…
Join date: 29 Jul 2007
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11-05-2009 18:09
From: Pandorah Ashdene 244195d6-c9b7-4fd6-9229-c3a8b2e60e81 >clickety click< |