On it’s 5th anniversary SL is way passed the pioneer era. But then again ... It’s not. "It is always an uneasy transition for the pioneers, and I think we’re going to go trough that again." (Mitch Kapor)Under the flawless pixel summer sky, a crowd that was way passed the limit of safe occupancy of sims, struggled with lag and gathered to attend Mr. Mitch Kapor’s closure speech of SL 5th birthday celebrations.People there where anxious, and hoping to hear announcements of change. Maybe we have this feeling about the Linden Lab being a kind of a nice Big Brother, but a Big Brother after all, that is supposed to provide us with tools for enhancing the experience and help make our virtual existence richer, more comfortable, more successful.He encouraged residents to stop whining and start acting like the grown ups that the platform has become.I sensed I bit of disappointment (Especially from residents who pay money to be here). I think both points of view are partly right. To people "in the know", the showing of clips from the video previewing his 3D camera (www.handsfree3D.com) was no news.There was, instead, a 'political speech'. Sounding a bit like President Kennedy ("We stand at the edge of a New Frontier ..."), Mitch talked about the Internet, and about how a new technology always starts out in a frontier condition. In the beginning, SL residents have been pioneers, and he compared their spirit to those who settled the West.The first pioneer era is ending now. We are at the gates of a transition. It's like we have reached the moon… and now we have to figure out how to move on from there.It's not have been easy for pioneers. It's still not easy for newcomers. Only the strong stay. He spoke about the 'high attrition rate' of the early years (many believe it's still high). "There are some things that Linden Lab has to do, to allow the potential of the platform to unfold, to improve ease of use, ease of learning", is a phrase that seems to point in the right direction.Please see the video of Mitch Kapor's video, or just hear the audio, by going to the Linden Lab official blog. He spoke about the SL5B week, about the stage of development that Second Life is now in, and about new upcoming developments including real photo-realistic avatars, controlling your avatar by moving in front of a webcam. He also talked about other things, but please see the video on the LL blog for that. Mitch Kapor is member of the Linden Lab board of directors. He has been involved with Second Life long before it was opened up to the public as an investor. Besides this, he has made a name for him self in the IT and internet world for various accomplishments. Please see the Wikipedia page about him for more detailed information.Written by: Covadonga Writer
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