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Growing Pains Yield Virtual Reality Check

Second Life founder answers critics, promises improvement

By Emily Thompson, Newser User

Posted Feb 1, 2008 3:18 PM CST

(Newser) – The paparazzi have left, but the party isn't over for Second Life, the virtual world's founder says in a combative interview with Der Spiegel. Philip Rosedale acknowledges that the media hype has all but dried up but says he hopes new voice and education tools will turn the spotlight back on. Making the system crash less, however, is his "number one mission."

Improving the usability of the interface and adding the ability to browse the internet from within Second Life are also on the to-do list, he says. Though Rosedale addresses concern about competitors like Twinity, he doesn't shy away from grand statements about Second Life's future: "Ultimately, use of the virtual worlds will be greater than use of the web."

[Images (5)]

[Videos (2)]

Visitors work on a computer in the Hague, 19 March 2007 as the picture of the virtual beach pavilion of the Hague created by Second Life appears on a monitor screen. Launched in 2003, Second Life is a... (Getty Images)

Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Labs/Second life, talks about virtual worlds, in a panel session of the Open Forum, on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland,... (Associated Press)

Philip Rosedale. founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Linden Lab, attends the third annual Second Life Community Convention in Chicago 26 August 2007. (Kara Andrade/AFP/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

A Second Life avatar interacts with an orangutan in a simulation sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. (Getty Images)

This computer-generated image provided Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 by the office of U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., shows Rep. Markey as an online "avatar" standing in front of a computerized image of the... (Associated Press)

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Philip Rosedale speaks to BeetTV. (BeetTV (YouTube))

Philip Rosedale on C4 News. (si08han (YouTube))

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Growing Pains Yield Virtual Reality Check