techNOcool

On a related note, I found this post off an Educause Connect blog relaying the anticipation of Second Life adding voice and the possibilities that offers for interactions.

http://connect.educause.edu/blog/ajkelton/second_life_voice_will_it_leave_us_speechless/21661

I don't disagree with Sarah's points about things you can do in an virtual environment. (I hate that term - I get this mental image of the guy with the cigar from Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" when people talk about virtual worlds. We've got to move these microwave ovens. Custom kitchen delivery... Does that date me?)

But I digress...

The fact remains that

1. Second Life as an interface is trash. (Everyone, including this podcast refers to the time it takes to learn the interface - it could be done a lot better.)

2. I can't help but think that Second Life is still "what the cool kids do" for people who just don't get it. Kind of like people who were all hot for "AOL: Keyword" back in the late nineties.

I do think that when someone really gets the Second Life model right, there'll be something to it. (i.e. GoogleLife or something to that effect... now that's scary.)

On the note about voice possibilities, there are some real implications to online worlds to this. In my own World of Warcraft (WoW) experience, there are voice systems (one my wife uses is called Teamspeak) which allow you to vocally interact while playing. Many other games offer this interaction already.

It does segregate the environment somewhat - people using teamspeak or other voice systems have a distinct advantage. It definitely changes the communication dynamic. In situations where you're using your fingers a lot to play a game, it makes things a lot easier. In primarily chat scenarios, I think voice would weaken the experience and certainly intimidate people new to the medium.

To add to everyone's cultural literacy, here is a popular (possibly NSFW - rough language) YouTube clip that has Teamspeak World of Warcraft running.