Intro to Digital Age

The popularity of programs such as Second Life is growing at a fast pace.  For some, it’s just a fun way to pass time.  For others, it’s a way to meet up with friends.  For a few, it’s a good way to make money.  Not virtual money.  Real money.  Wired News reported in 2004 on a writer who made almost as much selling “imaginary goods” in a virtual world as he did in his best month as a writer in the real world.  In the end, he was short only $683.00.  This is just one example in which people have found ways to make a viable living in the virtual world.  Fashion designers, real estate agents, and even notaries have found business success in Second Life.  In a recent article in BusinessWeek, the author described virtual worlds as “unholy offspring of the movie The Matrix, the social networking site MySpace.com, and the online marketplace eBay.”  I thought this description was funny, but true.  It’s a combination of all the things people enjoy and use in the digital age.  Perhaps that’s why these “games” are gaining popularity.

Second Life has blurred the lines between the virtual world and reality in ways other than big business.  Last weekend, Relay for Life was held in the virtual world, collecting thousands of dollars – real money – through donations of virtual money that was converted.  It was interesting to hear this podcast on the fundraising efforts of residents.  An actual Relay for Life event took place.  As seen in New World Notes(a blog about life in Second Life), residents ran and walked on a track for the event.  The event was very detailed, including the lighted candles in bags around the track as seen in the real world event.  I think this is a very creative and successful way to raise money or awareness of an issue.  If the topic is something you are passionate about, it would easily translate to the virtual world.  Your friends or group(s) there can help spread the word farther than you ever could have by mailing letters that will go unopened to people you don’t know.  It has implications for the communications efforts of agencies such as the American Cancer Society or the American Red Cross.  I think the virtual world could add valuable contributions to agencies from money to volunteers to donated goods. 

At first I thought Second Life and other programs like it were simply games played to pass idle time.  I’m beginning to see, though, the real-world applications.  Online you can meet people around the world you may never have had the chance to meet.  You may find your new job or an entrepreneurial opportunity.  Opportunities abound for advertisers and communication professionals.  I will definitely be watching to see what the future holds for virtual worlds.  It seems the younger generation that now uses instant messaging and text messages more often than email to communicate may find virtual worlds an ideal place to communicate with friends and conduct business in the future.  

I have to admit, I’m still trying to understand the implications of being able to create whatever I want with the right software and printer.  It’s an amazing concept.  The ability to create functional objects at home from, essentially, a 3-D printer holds tremendous potential.  I will no longer have to reserve an entire Saturday morning to search multiple home improvement stores looking for a piece to something that, come to find out, is no longer manufactured.  I will simply download a template and “print” the missing piece.  Not long ago, I bought a piece of furniture for my new apartment.  After moving everything to the new place and assembling the piece of furniture, I realized I was missing a piece.  Not just any piece – the connecting pieces that held the entire thing together.  This might not have been a big deal; however, it was my bed.  The store was closed at this point, I was exhausted, and I had nowhere to sleep.  A 3-D printer would have been ideal.

The idea of home fabrication is exciting.  It does bring up serious questions, though, about copyright and trademark laws.  It does not seem to me that it will be as easy as wanting to create something, and voila, there it is, new and shiny and – free.  It couldn’t be that easy.  Worldchanging.com discussed the creation of nano-factories, or desktop appliances used for personal fabrication, as being available within the next 10 to 15 years.  Our society and economy would dramatically change with the introduction of such “factories.”  Traditional manufacturing companies would loose business, along with raw material providers as more effecient use of materials becomes possible.  The way we work, live, and play would change as objects become instantly available. 

Such a change could be very beneficial to the developing world, as one blog points out.  When disasters strike, mobile fabrication devices could create the supplies needed to sustain an entire village.  Objects such as buckets, pipes, and faucets could be fabricated out of available resources such as mud and grass to use and transport water.  Fabrication devices have the potential to save lives, though it also has the potential to destroy lives.  One example noted is the ability to fabricate weapons, which placed in the wrong hands, could have devastating effects.       

The ability to create something based on one’s own concept and design is powerful and would, as demonstrated here, change the world.  I’m not a futurist, but there is a task force of futurists, technology specialists, environmental scientists, and others working together to examine the possibilities of a fabrication future.  It will be interesting to see what they envision and what actually takes place.