Second Life Forums Archive - A platform for business development?

Pratyeka Muromachi

Meditating Avatar

Join date: 14 Apr 2005

Posts: 642

09-01-2005 08:50

If SL was really a platform for business development, would'nt it have to be working like the internet? I mean, nobody owns the internet, anyone can open up a web site and use it for business. Only the relevant laws can dictate what one's internet based business can or cannot do.

The way I see it. SL does not really conform to this platform definition, as there is one owner, LL, and they can pull the plug anytime if SL goes bankrupt.

In order for any business to thrive on the internet, they must be free to decide their own fate. They same applies for business in SL.

So, Internet is the base, internet providers give access for a fee, people pay for access and start a business.

Where is SL in this picture? It surely is not the base. It does not give us access to anything like the internet so it is not an internet provider. What do we pay for? We pay for access to LL servers to use their interface to make virtual objects we hope we can sell to other users of same servers...

Unless SL become as open as the internet, I see it as a consumer product.

Or am I totally off on this. If I am, please explain.

_____________________

gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!

Forseti Svarog

ESC

Join date: 2 Nov 2004

Posts: 1,730

09-01-2005 08:57

I disagree. eBay is a platform for business -- it's become an incredible engine for business and new business creation.

Satchmo Prototype

eSheep

Join date: 26 Aug 2004

Posts: 1,323

09-01-2005 09:01

Lots of ways to contridict this one.

What if you create a software company building software for OS X and Apple goes belly up?

What if you build software that helped manage Oracle Databases?

What if you have an Ebay company and Ebay goes away?

What if you develop for the Gumstix and they go belly up?

Most proprietary technology platforms have similar issues to the ones you raised.

All business has risks. You just have to evaluate them and make good decisions.

Pratyeka Muromachi

Meditating Avatar

Join date: 14 Apr 2005

Posts: 642

09-01-2005 09:06

All the above are "service providers". they are all based on the internet which belongs to no-one.

_____________________

gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!

Pratyeka Muromachi

Meditating Avatar

Join date: 14 Apr 2005

Posts: 642

10-18-2005 16:05

***Bump***

_____________________

gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!

Fizik Baskerville

spacethinkdream.com

Join date: 11 Dec 2003

Posts: 107

SL as a business tool

10-18-2005 16:23

We've been using SL as a business tool now for almost 2yrs.

We even use it for client presentations, right down to taking a work-thru with a client of product development etc.

When Hiro gets the SLCC videosstreaming, we showed a few examples during the convention.

We talk about SL not as a 'game or even social interactive network, or a example of the metaverse'. We just see it - for development purposes not the avalon. project - as a we would AdobePhotoshop or any other creative package.

www.riversrunred.com

_____________________

www.spacethinkdream.com

Dark Korvin

Player in the RL game

Join date: 13 Jun 2005

Posts: 769

10-18-2005 17:46

From: Pratyeka Muromachi

If SL was really a platform for business development, would'nt it have to be working like the internet? I mean, nobody owns the internet, anyone can open up a web site and use it for business. Only the relevant laws can dictate what one's internet based business can or cannot do.

The way I see it. SL does not really conform to this platform definition, as there is one owner, LL, and they can pull the plug anytime if SL goes bankrupt.

In order for any business to thrive on the internet, they must be free to decide their own fate. They same applies for business in SL.

So, Internet is the base, internet providers give access for a fee, people pay for access and start a business.

Where is SL in this picture? It surely is not the base. It does not give us access to anything like the internet so it is not an internet provider. What do we pay for? We pay for access to LL servers to use their interface to make virtual objects we hope we can sell to other users of same servers...

Unless SL become as open as the internet, I see it as a consumer product.

Or am I totally off on this. If I am, please explain.

The internet is owned by service providers. The internet only exists with the existance of ISP's (Internet Service Providers) who own severs. SL is a new concept. They only have a few similar competitors that act more as a pure game than SL does, but you are at the dawning of the virtual world's existance in the modern age. They started out for games instead of government and eduction this time, but now they are moving into working for the needs of business as well. You have no way of telling what will happen when more companies owning servers decide to try to allow for business to be conducted in a virtual world. My prediction is someday there will be multiple virtual worlds with connections to each other in a similar fashion as the internet. Linden Labs may be gone by that time, but it doesn't mean that the current service provider is not a business platform. If the servers running your websites suddenly get destroyed, stolen, sold to another company, or the owners go bankrupt, you have just as much chance of losing all your work as a freak occurence to Linden Labs would cause. The only difference is that the concept is new enough, you may have no other service provider who can provide what you want.

Balamore Fardel

Registered User

Join date: 12 Oct 2005

Posts: 7

10-20-2005 18:10

From: Dark Korvin

The internet is owned by service providers. The internet only exists with the existance of ISP's (Internet Service Providers) who own severs. SL is a new concept. They only have a few similar competitors that act more as a pure game than SL does, but you are at the dawning of the virtual world's existance in the modern age. They started out for games instead of government and eduction this time, but now they are moving into working for the needs of business as well. You have no way of telling what will happen when more companies owning servers decide to try to allow for business to be conducted in a virtual world. My prediction is someday there will be multiple virtual worlds with connections to each other in a similar fashion as the internet. Linden Labs may be gone by that time, but it doesn't mean that the current service provider is not a business platform. If the servers running your websites suddenly get destroyed, stolen, sold to another company, or the owners go bankrupt, you have just as much chance of losing all your work as a freak occurence to Linden Labs would cause. The only difference is that the concept is new enough, you may have no other service provider who can provide what you want.

I think all of this is what makes SL so exciting. Nobody truly knows what is going to happen in the future. So many possibilities.

A platform for business development?
Pratyeka Muromachi Meditating Avatar Join date: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 642	09-01-2005 08:50 If SL was really a platform for business development, would'nt it have to be working like the internet? I mean, nobody owns the internet, anyone can open up a web site and use it for business. Only the relevant laws can dictate what one's internet based business can or cannot do. The way I see it. SL does not really conform to this platform definition, as there is one owner, LL, and they can pull the plug anytime if SL goes bankrupt. In order for any business to thrive on the internet, they must be free to decide their own fate. They same applies for business in SL. So, Internet is the base, internet providers give access for a fee, people pay for access and start a business. Where is SL in this picture? It surely is not the base. It does not give us access to anything like the internet so it is not an internet provider. What do we pay for? We pay for access to LL servers to use their interface to make virtual objects we hope we can sell to other users of same servers... Unless SL become as open as the internet, I see it as a consumer product. Or am I totally off on this. If I am, please explain. _____________________ gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!
Forseti Svarog ESC Join date: 2 Nov 2004 Posts: 1,730	09-01-2005 08:57 I disagree. eBay is a platform for business -- it's become an incredible engine for business and new business creation.
Satchmo Prototype eSheep Join date: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 1,323	09-01-2005 09:01 Lots of ways to contridict this one. What if you create a software company building software for OS X and Apple goes belly up? What if you build software that helped manage Oracle Databases? What if you have an Ebay company and Ebay goes away? What if you develop for the Gumstix and they go belly up? Most proprietary technology platforms have similar issues to the ones you raised. All business has risks. You just have to evaluate them and make good decisions.
Pratyeka Muromachi Meditating Avatar Join date: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 642	09-01-2005 09:06 All the above are "service providers". they are all based on the internet which belongs to no-one. _____________________ gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!
Pratyeka Muromachi Meditating Avatar Join date: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 642	10-18-2005 16:05 *Bump* _____________________ gone to Openlife Grid and OpenSim standalone, your very own sim on your PC, 45,000 prims, huge prims at will up to 100m, yes, run your own grid on your PC, FOR FREE!
Fizik Baskerville spacethinkdream.com Join date: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 107	SL as a business tool 10-18-2005 16:23 We've been using SL as a business tool now for almost 2yrs. We even use it for client presentations, right down to taking a work-thru with a client of product development etc. When Hiro gets the SLCC videosstreaming, we showed a few examples during the convention. We talk about SL not as a 'game or even social interactive network, or a example of the metaverse'. We just see it - for development purposes not the avalon. project - as a we would AdobePhotoshop or any other creative package. www.riversrunred.com _____________________ www.spacethinkdream.com
Dark Korvin Player in the RL game Join date: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 769	10-18-2005 17:46 From: Pratyeka Muromachi If SL was really a platform for business development, would'nt it have to be working like the internet? I mean, nobody owns the internet, anyone can open up a web site and use it for business. Only the relevant laws can dictate what one's internet based business can or cannot do. The way I see it. SL does not really conform to this platform definition, as there is one owner, LL, and they can pull the plug anytime if SL goes bankrupt. In order for any business to thrive on the internet, they must be free to decide their own fate. They same applies for business in SL. So, Internet is the base, internet providers give access for a fee, people pay for access and start a business. Where is SL in this picture? It surely is not the base. It does not give us access to anything like the internet so it is not an internet provider. What do we pay for? We pay for access to LL servers to use their interface to make virtual objects we hope we can sell to other users of same servers... Unless SL become as open as the internet, I see it as a consumer product. Or am I totally off on this. If I am, please explain. The internet is owned by service providers. The internet only exists with the existance of ISP's (Internet Service Providers) who own severs. SL is a new concept. They only have a few similar competitors that act more as a pure game than SL does, but you are at the dawning of the virtual world's existance in the modern age. They started out for games instead of government and eduction this time, but now they are moving into working for the needs of business as well. You have no way of telling what will happen when more companies owning servers decide to try to allow for business to be conducted in a virtual world. My prediction is someday there will be multiple virtual worlds with connections to each other in a similar fashion as the internet. Linden Labs may be gone by that time, but it doesn't mean that the current service provider is not a business platform. If the servers running your websites suddenly get destroyed, stolen, sold to another company, or the owners go bankrupt, you have just as much chance of losing all your work as a freak occurence to Linden Labs would cause. The only difference is that the concept is new enough, you may have no other service provider who can provide what you want.
Balamore Fardel Registered User Join date: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 7	10-20-2005 18:10 From: Dark Korvin The internet is owned by service providers. The internet only exists with the existance of ISP's (Internet Service Providers) who own severs. SL is a new concept. They only have a few similar competitors that act more as a pure game than SL does, but you are at the dawning of the virtual world's existance in the modern age. They started out for games instead of government and eduction this time, but now they are moving into working for the needs of business as well. You have no way of telling what will happen when more companies owning servers decide to try to allow for business to be conducted in a virtual world. My prediction is someday there will be multiple virtual worlds with connections to each other in a similar fashion as the internet. Linden Labs may be gone by that time, but it doesn't mean that the current service provider is not a business platform. If the servers running your websites suddenly get destroyed, stolen, sold to another company, or the owners go bankrupt, you have just as much chance of losing all your work as a freak occurence to Linden Labs would cause. The only difference is that the concept is new enough, you may have no other service provider who can provide what you want. I think all of this is what makes SL so exciting. Nobody truly knows what is going to happen in the future. So many possibilities.

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A platform for business development?