IBM to give birth to 'Second Life' business group

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <[email protected]>
Date: December 13, 2006 9:01:27 AM JST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <[email protected]>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] IBM to give birth to 'Second Life' business group
Reply-To: [email protected]

IBM to give birth to 'Second Life' business group

By Stephen Shankland
<http://news.com.com/IBM+to+give+birth+to+Second+Life+business+group/ 
2100-1014_3-6143175.html>

Story last modified Tue Dec 12 15:39:57 PST 2006
IBM will launch an official group in January to deal with Second Life  
and other virtual realms from which the company hopes to profit.
Virtual reality and other visual interface work is the next project  
on IBM's plate, Irving Wladawsky-Berger said in an interview at  
CNET's Second Life offices. Wladawsky-Berger, vice president of  
technical strategy and innovation at IBM, led the company's response  
to earlier technologies that rewrote the rules of the computing  
industry, such as e-commerce and Linux.
"I have been playing a strong role in helping us start our 3D  
Internet and virtual-world efforts. We are launching a new EBO in  
this area in January--that is, an emerging business opportunity--much  
like we did with Linux and the grid," Wladawsky-Berger said Tuesday.  
IBM believes the virtual realm has potential for training,  
conferences and commerce, he said.
Second Life, an online community run by a company called Linden Labs,  
is an electronic universe where people's virtual representations,  
called avatars, can chat, fly, teleport, browse stores and purchase  
goods. IBM has one public island on Second Life, a site named after  
and mimicking its Almaden Research Center near San Jose, Calif., but  
the company plans to open up 12 more by Monday.

Second Life, not unlike blogging, has become a new trend among  
technology companies hoping to show they're hip to the latest trends  
and that believe they might benefit from direct connections to  
potential customers. In recent months, IBM rivals Dell and Sun  
Microsystems have launched Second Life offices and held activities.

[snip]