A great deal of the tech community has regarded Second Life with a distant shrug and a smile. The idea of a virtual world has been tossed around since computers were in their infancy, and even more so after the dawn of the Internet. There is, however, a growing movement from within these virtual environments to establish something of a viable social and economic platform from which serious change can occur.

I spent a good deal of this week studying this topic. I watched a forum that took place within Second Life that included industry experts on a virtual TV show called Metanomics. This episode discussed the impact of a ruling made by the environment’s host that banned banks from within Second Life. Guests included:

• Joshua Fairfield, Professor of Law, Indiana University and Washington and Lee University
• David E. Altig, Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Dan Miller, Senior Economist, Joint Economic Committee of the U. S. Congress
• Benjamin Duranske, blogger from Virtually Blind and founder of the Second Life Bar Association
• Intlibber Brautigan, Ancapistan Financial Exchange
• Travis Ristow, BSC Bank

One point that came forward to myself as being a reasonable example of why a virtual world might be a great way to do business that doesn’t require an actual office visit was given by one of the virtual bank owners. Someone that is incapacitated, or otherwise required to be at home can do so while maintaining their business virtually. Several business in the UK have picked up on this and are including virtual attendees at business meetings that otherwise might require a costly plane trip. Soldiers over seas have used Second Life as a way to communicate and interact with their families and friends back home in a way that a simple phone call or email could not accomplish. Often, virtual environments can also allow two people that may not otherwise meet to find each other and find love, or even lifelong friends.

So I open the floor to comments. Is it time for virtual worlds to be taken seriously?

Yesterday, Steve Jobs brought the MacBook Air to the world in a big way. The initial design is amazing. A notebook you can fit inside a manila envelope that features two gigs of RAM, an 80 gig hard drive with 64 gig flash option, and a new flavor of multi-touch goodness. This notebook has all the bells and whistles that one comes to expect from Apple over the past decade.

Steve Jobs has predicted the end of the optical drive, which has a portion of the tech community blinking in thought over what this means. It means that in order to achieve this thin architecture, there was no room for the components of an optical drive. This reminds me of the day Steve Jobs gave all the reasons that video was not going to be on the iPod, only to add it to the feature list once they discovered how to play video on a device without sacrificing size. I’ll predict that an optical drive will continue to be available on future releases of the PowerBook and MacBook. The fact that you have to rely on a networked system that allows you install software to utilize their optical drives in order to take advantage of the technology on the go is rather annoying. Burning a disc for a client on the road is still common practice, as is watching a DVD. Let’s face it, 80 gigs doesn’t store as much content as it used to. There are of course workarounds, though I can see a portion of the potential buyers of this new system being turned away by this.

If you are on a trip that takes longer than four or five hours, you will find yourself in dire need of an outlet should you need to do some work on the plane or wherever you may traveling. Being unable to carry extra batteries to give yourself extra time when unable to reach a plug is a strong setback for mobile users. Should the battery go bad, you’ll need to bring it in for servicing and pay $129.00 for a new battery.

This is a brilliant design, and one I am very happy is coming to the world of portables, though it appears that it is not quite ready for prime time. Just as with the iPhone early adopters that long for 3G, I’m going to hold out for second or third gen before grabbing one of these ultra-thin wonders. Great job Apple, despite these minor setbacks.

Matt Ryan

We are standing at the beginning of a remarkable trend in the world of technology. This trend has many facets with one central idea in mind, being the next extreme advancement. Whether it is a 105″ plasma television or a fully functional video screen thinner and smaller than a dime, there is an active movement towards that next extreme.

Technology was hitting a very bland moment during the last several years where achievements seemed to be leveling out when it comes to the world of consumer electronics. Computers were becoming faster than modern programs really require, giving little reason for companies like Intel and AMD to really push for that next big leap forward. Cellphones were finally becoming somewhat functional while remaining in the realm of professional consumer electronics as opposed to the wide and diverse consumer electronics market. Things were appearing to be at their peak, until several amazing things took shape.

Intel discovered a way to make a processor that not only stays cooler than the industry standard, but runs faster than anything competitors had on the drawing board. The Core 2 technology has been touted as the mark of the eventual defeat of AMD. Computers benifited from this new technology and again gave geeks and nerds around the globe something to drool over.

Apple took over the world of tech journalism with their announcement of the iPhone. This little hand held device brought the idea of touch and true web integration to the world of consumer electronics and mobile phones. It has since become the second highest selling mobile device on the market short of the staple line of Blackberry products. The iPhone has been imitated in numerous new products from several leading mobile phone companies. This imitation is a sign that through this single advancement, the entire market has shifted to a new way of thinking in relation to form, function, and purpose of mobile phones for everyday consumers.

The list could continue on, while the realm of technology continues to stir and buzz over this renewed sense of creation and innovation that has brought so many people out of the analog age into the digital age of extreme that we are so boldly striding into, one advancement at a time. This is a good time to be in technology, and an even better time to be a modern consumer. Who knows what the next year will bring as technology’s leading powerhouses race to discover that next big leap forward.