Irving Wladawsky-Berger on the Emerging Virtual World
Irving Wladawsky-Berger of IBM writes about Life and Business in the Virtual World. He says we’ll experience an emerging virtual world that’s ubiquitous, collaborative, intelligent, realistic, and human-like.
[tease]
Finally, with IT all around us, it is very important that we leverage all that powerful and inexpensive computing power so that future applications will be much more human-like, realistic and “immersive.” We see this future emerging most clearly with computer and video games, especially with the new generation of game consoles like the Xbox and PlayStation 3, as well as with massively multiplayer online environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft.
[tease] (emphasis added)
So, what are we going to do in this emerging ubiquitous, collaborative, intelligent, realistic, and human-like virtual world? Ten years ago or so, in the early days of the Internet’s explosive growth, people where asking similar questions about the then young and relatively primitive Internet. Cynics at the time wondered how many people had sufficient time to surf the Web, and where the value and economic returns would come from. One can ask similar questions today and cynically assume that these virtual worlds are primarily for people who wish to spend their time playing computer games.
But I like the way former IBM Chairman and CEO Lou Gerstner answered these questions in a keynote speech at an Internet World conference in December 1996, an answer as relevant today as it was then:
“I’m often asked by IBM customers where the Net is headed. I tell them: Clearly, connectivity is important — but it isn’t the real issue. Let’s say soon there will be 1 billion ways to get on the Net. Then what? What will these connected millions do? What will they want to do? What will they value? And what will they be willing to pay for?
“The answer is — all the things they do today. Buy and sell; bank; follow legislation; work together; access entertainment, earn a college degree, renew a driver’s license. In other words, they’ll want applications. Not shrink-wrapped ‘bloatware.’ And certainly not static information posted on Web sites.”
[via AllwaysOn]