tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5041624883246722973.post64784061332474672..comments2022-11-11T04:13:56.292-08:00Comments on In a Strange Land: More Thoughts on Second Life and LaptopsIggy Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834075825456226770noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5041624883246722973.post-34965613486645493302009-11-15T15:38:38.151-08:002009-11-15T15:38:38.151-08:00Nope, Dirty. That's not my claim at all.
It a...Nope, Dirty. That's not my claim at all.<br /><br />It appears to be my correspondent at the SLED list, quoted in my post, who wants students to purchase gaming desktops.<br /><br />In fact, if I am to continue using SL for first-year courses, I want the students to be able to take advantage of SL's treasures with what they typically employ: a Mac or PC laptop with 2 GB of RAM, a reasonably fast Intel processor, and a wireless connection (if possible).<br /><br />There's a mint to be made for the company that produces an immersive VW that will run well on such equipment--the very machines that hardware makers market to parents of college-bound US kids.<br /><br />Right now, Linden Lab is NOT that company. I wish they were, because the content in-world can be stunning. If something like Metaplace were MORE immersive (I have innate trouble with the Mario-Brothers avatars and tiny display) I'd be building educational content there. It runs like a dream, in a browser and without a client.<br /><br />Linden Lab scratches its head and wonders why retention of students who use SL is so low after they finish a class. Some have said "they see it as part of class." Fair enough, but I'd wager that most students--and most are NOT gamers at my school--never see SL as more than a collection of gray prims, laggy walking, and a non-intuitive UI.<br /><br />This is the Lab's doing, since for a long time they sold SL as a killer app for education even as they made back-office decisions that ramped up the graphics requirements. Instead of producing--or contracting out--a "lite" client for laptop users (/me misses OnRez badly), LL seems to be chasing the enterprise / desktop-socialite client bases.<br /><br />Heh--maybe that is where the money is! I'm professor, not a marketing guru.Iggy Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10834075825456226770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5041624883246722973.post-73990895808014183232009-11-15T15:29:14.831-08:002009-11-15T15:29:14.831-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Iggy Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10834075825456226770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5041624883246722973.post-26370516281952992192009-11-15T03:18:44.251-08:002009-11-15T03:18:44.251-08:00it's an interesting idea but you are requiring...it's an interesting idea but you are requiring students to make in investment is a 'gaming' computer to take advantage of the courses.dirtyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11064670656387091691noreply@blogger.com