Have you ever thought about how you would live your life if you could be anything you wanted to be? Imagine a virtual world where you could define who you were, where you lived, what you did, when you did it, and how you did it. A place where you could travel to any location within a second and buy/sell the virtual representation of any object found in your life. This world is known as Second Life. A virtual world created by Linden Labs offered free of charge to users around the world.
Upon joining Second Life, I landed on Orientation Island where I followed the initial tutorial to help me understand how to perform the basics within this new virtual world. I immediately started my search for businesses in Second Life and quickly found the big tech companies of Dell
and IBM.
I headed to Dell first, but did not find any other virtual people there. The campus was pretty neat and you could actually take a train to different locations within campus. Dell has an orientation island for their new customers, Dell City with store fronts that sell
Dell-branded clothes, and a Dell Factory where you can actually build your own computer. Second Life is known to attract a big consumer audience and this is a great way for Dell and other companies to interface with their customers via press releases, store fronts, customer service, etc. After spending some time at Dell, I needed to find a business that actually had people. So I went to IBM.
IBM was very similar to Dell in the way that it was used. I actually had an opportunity to meet an IBM employee that works in Sao Paolo, Brazil. We discussed the Brazilian economy and how he is currently working on projects
where his American counterparts have been laid off. I then enjoyed playing the Service Oriented Architecture drums they had on their island and got to play some good tunes. That’s when I thought to myself, “Wait, this is Second Life, why I am I just going to IBM and Dell!?” I started thinking about what I would do if I had the chance of doing whatever I wanted.
So I, DonJulio Flagon, put on my tuxedo, searched for Frank’s Place (“SL’s Premier Dance Club”) and teleported to a classy joint where the men wore tuxedos, the
women wore expensive dresses, and you danced all night to the tunes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Harry Connick, Jr. and other of my Jazz favorites. When I got to Frank’s, I was greeted by a very nice hostess, who briefly told me about the place and escorted me to the dance floor where couples were dancing a waltz. Naturally, I went up to a classy lady that turned out to be the senior manager at Frank’s and here’s how it went down:
[22:20] DonJulio Flagon: hi Shiloh, how you doing?
[22:20] Shiloh Tachikawa: Hello sir...how are you?
[22:20] DonJulio Flagon: great, can you tell me when this place was created?
[22:21] Shiloh Tachikawa: Uh...last August I want to say?
[22:21] Shiloh Tachikawa: Maybe late July
[22:21] DonJulio Flagon: love the tunes...classy
[22:21] Shiloh Tachikawa: Thank you sir
[22:23] DonJulio Flagon: i would love to you ask you dance., but can you show me how to move this body of mine...this is my first time in second life
[22:24] Shiloh Tachikawa: Actually sir...I thank you for your kind offer...but I am working and cannot...just ask another lady here...then head to the floor and click on the black ball
[22:24] DonJulio Flagon: will do...what are your responsibilities on the job
[22:25] Shiloh Tachikawa: To keep the peace...enforce dress code...help out ppl that need it...that sort of thing
[22:26] DonJulio Flagon: how does this place make the money to pay you?
[22:26] Shiloh Tachikawa: From sales generated by the Galleria across from here
[22:27] DonJulio Flagon: what do they sell?
[22:28] Shiloh Tachikawa: Pretty much everything...but mostly nicer clothes
[22:28] DonJulio Flagon: how many visitors do you get on a nightly basis?
[22:28] DonJulio Flagon: are weekends really busy?
[22:29] Shiloh Tachikawa: My but aren't you the inquisitive type?
[22:29] DonJulio Flagon: honestly...i am working on a school assignment where we have to
research two businesses in second life
[22:30] Shiloh Tachikawa: Then you would be best served by contacting the owners then
[22:31] Shiloh Tachikawa: Send a notecard to Mr Gymmy Sinatra explaining what you are doing
[22:32] Shiloh Tachikawa: Sorry sir...I need to move while I work
[22:32] DonJulio Flagon: tks for all the help
[22:32] Shiloh Tachikawa: You are very welcome
My favorite part of that conversation was that she could not dance because she was working. Working!? I then sat down to have a cocktail with a “model” and I bummed a cigarette off of Ken. I actually listened to a DJ telling all us at Frank's "I hope Second Life brings you more happy dances and romance at Frank's". Frank's was built on SL to allow people to wear what they wanted, request songs, talk to whomever, dance, and even start a romance. Here’s me at Frank’s relaxing and smoking a cigarette.
When I started this Second Life experience I immediately thought to myself what a waste of time. I have enough things that I could be working on in my First life; but, to my pleasant surprise this was truly fun. Technology will only continue to improve and that will subsequently improve the user experience. The better Linden Labs makes it for the user, the bigger user base it will be able to attract and retain. The possibilities are endless and every new experience has you asking for more. In any case, I now know that after a long day at work, I will always be able to wind down at Frank’s place!
