Warmer Experience but is it Entertainment?
February 17th, 2007Last night, I participated in a fascinating discussion of Second Life with performer George Michael. George performs concerts on Second Life, connects with fans, cells CDs, and gets tipped in Linden Dollars.
With over 3M registered accounts and 30K concurrent users online, Second Life has become a phenomenon.
“People want their personal experiences captured and shared”
From Wikipedia”
“The Medium is the Message” is a phrase meaning that the generic form of media is more important than any “meaning” or “content” that the media conveys. For Marshall McLuhan, the content of media is irrelevant. The form of the medium itself is what changes our consciousness.
McLuhan examines television as an extension of the movie, with the exception that the visual quality of television as a medium is much less resolute than a movie as it would be seen in a theatre. Whereas a movie extends man’s vision to a high degree and is thus “hot,” a television image with less detail requires the viewer to fill in more details with their imagination and is therefore a “cool” medium.
Things have changed since McLuhan made that quote. Home entertainment systems have become warmer mediums, but what is second life? For audio concerts, it’s hotter and colder than traditional audio mediums. It captures a “virtual audience” and thus creates a shared experience.
Rebecca Nesson, an instructor at Harvard who brought her Legal Studies class to Second Life in the second half of 2006. “Normally, no matter how good a distance-learning class is, an inherent distance does still exist between you and your students,” she says. “Second Life has really bridged that gap. There is just more unofficial time that we spend together outside of the typical class session.” (Lagorio, Christine. “The Ultimate Distance Learning“, New York Times, 2007-01-07.)
Now here’s the rub. Is Second Life entertainment? It certainly encompasses it, but it’s something more. It’s not just recreation because some people are generating regular income from it. What is it? (in one sentence please).
And what does the entertainment in Second Life represent?
Topher’s Proposition 1
February 16th, 2007So proposition 1: technology is neither increasing nor decreasing span of control in any significant way, but is rather shifting the loci of the spheres of control, taking over some aspects and losing control of others.
Questions to Ponder (Topher White)
February 11th, 2007Questions to ponder:
Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in the Wall Street Journal that there is not enough talent in Hollywood to produce even half the content we’re currently producing. What does this mean to alternative media? Does 6 minutes of 8mm fame on YouTube really translate into 22 episodes of 44 minutes each?
Last week I went to a small club concert for Daughtry (AWSOME BAND!). Everyone in the audience had their camera phones out snapping shots, and I knew they were going to be up on blogs the next day. But the phones and
blogs are distantly secondary to the live show itself. How does technology contribute to non-electronic experiences?
How do art and commerce mix? See -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7213219 and
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7248869
Think about it!
Topher White
Worshipful Master, Kirkland Lodge 150, F&AM of Washington
Author, Technologist, Visionary, Inventor and Really Good Cook
Redmond, WA