Sunday, April 20, 2008
Apple in Second Life?
In response to all the gloom and doom, here's a story from MacNN that suggests that Apple is exploring the idea of virtual retail outlets. They don't name any specific company, of course, but the details of the patent application are pretty interesting. Will they work with an existing company, or - following their usual course - go it alone and create some kind of application all their own? As an Internet oldster who actually remembers Apple's eWorld service, it will as always be interesting to see what Steve & Co. has in mind.
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3 comments:
I really love how Apple tries to protect its "intellectual property" which such vague and general descriptions (although to be fair we should do as the reviewer suggests, go to the source and read the patent app yourself).
At the same time reviewers like Macnn's try to read between the lines and predict (probably accurately) what comes while putting their macneck on the line since Jobs is so intent on have heads roll at the slightest breach of his highness intentions.
Very interesting times indeed.
On one hand, if apple does pull through with their own virtual world, they might not do so well in the beginning since most people who play second life now might now want to start a new account with a different MMO (and spend even more money). On the other hand, most likely die hard apple users (ie mac users, ipod users, etc) will most likely join the apple community (if it is created). But that will also depend on how much it is to be part of the community, and what extras will be added to it (since SL thrives on people creation rather than stores, such as apple [even if there are major corporations in SL, like IBM]).
If I was Apple, and I really wanted to establish an Apple Virtual Environment, what I would do to "ease" the transition from Second Life to Apple Life (or some other registered trademarked name) is set up my own Apple Story Island, learn from Second Life what works and what doesn't, then use that island as a portal from which users can buy "Apple credits" that are transferable from Linden Dollars at X exchange rate, as well as provide links and information about the new Apple Life.
Hey, now that would be interesting... a completely virtual currency exchange. Maybe that's where this is all heading. After all, Nickelodeon is creating its own virtual world, as are other companies. Maybe this will be the catalyst that will force companies to abide by open standards, so that users are able to travel from virtual world to virtual world.
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