The US company Linden Labs had already started Second Life in 2003, which was initially only noticed by a few. Standard access was free, as was the necessary client software. First of all, new residents deal extensively with the design of their avatar. Then you teleport him to a place where something is going on. But even in 2007, at the height of the hype, curious people mostly met marketing specialists there. It was about making money with virtual and real goods. Nico Nowarra wrote in the c’t article “Where Linden Dollars Rule”:
“Anyone can do that – according to the often heard Second Life version of the American dream: become a resourceful entrepreneur and make big money quickly and easily with anything that you can move from avatar to avatar for Linden dollars (abbreviated L$). get.”
Early virtual currency
The Linden Dollars are among the early virtual currencies that can be bought and exchanged for real money. In the spring of 2007, the official exchange rate was L$268 for one euro; today you get L$341 per euro. Entrepreneurs who want to set up branches in the virtual space need a paid Premium or Premium Plus account, which currently costs between $5.50 and $30 per month.
In return, they can acquire land in the Second Life world – known in technical jargon as the “grid”. There the entrepreneur builds shops, clubs or amusement parks and has the visit paid for with Linden dollars. Nowarra wrote in 2007:
“Legendary information about individuals who are said to have made millionaires in real life through virtual commerce is being passed faithfully from one newspaper article to the next. No one can verify these stories – even our attempt to do so has failed.”
Nico Nowarra reported in c’t 7/2007 about the Second Life metaverse and the Linden dollar currency.
The dream of acquiring wealth in virtual space has remained a dream for many, but Second Life has attracted creatives who create artworks or design clothes and hairstyles for avatars. Commercial VR also quickly developed in a well-known direction:
“(…) some newcomers are initially reminded of the train station district in big cities when they arrive here: on the one hand sex shops and junk shops as well as virtual horizontal businesses, on the other hand a shopping paradise with department stores, fashion boutiques and cafés.”
A main source of income for L$ was initially gambling with casinos and betting shops, but Linden Labs banned this from the end of July 2007. This promptly led to the first virtual bank failure: Ginko Capital, founded in 2004, was unable to withstand the bank rush that began after the gambling ban and could not withstand the required Not providing L$ 50 million (just under 180,000 US dollars at the time). Attorney Andreas Lober reported in c’t 24/2007:
“The ‘AvaStar’, Axel Springer’s paper in Second Life, headlined ‘Banking scandal shakes SL’ in the best tabloid manner and speculated about souped-up company figures.”
At the beginning of 2007, Linden Labs reported 4.3 million Second Life residents, and for its 15th anniversary in 2018, 54 million accounts were mentioned. However, the number of regular users has always been significantly smaller and is said to have declined steadily since 2016 at the latest. Many projects were also gradually discontinued, such as the picture gallery of the Dresden State Art Collections in 2011. Later, a more child-friendly virtual world prevailed in school lessons: Minecraft.
(Bild: c’t 7/2023 )
VPNs with peer-to-peer technology exchange keys as if by magic, making setup much easier. In c’t 7/2023 we explain how to set up Tailscale, Nebula and Co. and network all your devices remotely. Cheap smartphones up to €200 and four AI writing aids have to assert themselves on the test bench this time. In our anniversary article, we take a look back at the hype surrounding Second Life. We also looked at the Linux all-rounder Vanilla OS and rapped together with ChatGPT. You can read that and more in c’t 7/2023!
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