In a Strange Land: February 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Private Estates Climb in Second Life

Location: Thinking about a new SL Road Trip

I admit that I have had a morbid interest in watching the slow decline in the number of private estates in Second Life, using Grid Survey as my point of reference.

For the first time in a LONG time, the number of private estates has risen. One week does not a trend make, but a net gain of 16 regions sticks right out.

Have a few folks who hold land in the virtual world, sensing a new direction by Linden Lab's newly annointed CEO, decided to expand their considerable investment? Or is this mere chance?

If we do see an upward trend in region numbers, then many prognosticators, myself included will have to revise a few ideas.

About In a Strange Land

I'm Joe Essid, a faculty member at University of Richmond. I began exploring virtual worlds in January, 2007 and taught with Second Life and in OpenSim Grids until Spring, 2013, when I tossed in the towel on a technology I still don't find ready for prime-time, educationally or professionally. These ramblings began as sense-impressions of irreal spaces by a naif in Second Life. I wrote them for our local paper's Web site, and when the "hype era" about SL ended, I moved my musings over here to Blogger. My research and teaching focus on the history of communications technology. I've decided to revive this blog after 8 years of hiatus to consider generative AI and education, plus--who knows!--another splash into the strange land of Second Life.