For the people out there that are convinced that Second Life is a game without a purpose--they should consider the ultimate purpose of Linden Lab is to sell virtual land.  Seeing the virtual world as a fake land development project helps you understand why LL does certain things and how it prioritizes activities (ie, Land Store, Raising Prices, Seeking better markets)

Forbes reports that the MIT Media Lab is getting funding from Linden Lab to mess around with real/virtual concepts (they call it X-Reality) and a bunch of kit.: "Later in November, Paradiso's team of seven Ph.D. students plans to switch on 45 PDA-sized devices mounted on the walls of the Media Lab's building. Each is equipped with an iPhone-like touch screen, a version of Second Life's software, wireless connections, cameras and a variety of audio, motion and infrared sensors."

Looks cool enuff. Bet they getting more than $10,000 worth of LInden Dollars on the backend of this project.  And of course some of the OpenSpace revenues will be used for this type of stuff I guess.  But is it really about research with MIT or about the very future of Second Life? What is the point of the Second Life anyway? Is it a game? An RP for lost people? Is there really any robust technology on this platform?

Linden Lab has destroyed credibility with its latest surprise announcement to "jack-up" the prices on more than 50% of the grid's monthly fees. They claim their own incompetence in setting the void sim ("openspaces") features and their own mis-management as justification to bring monthly tier fees from $USD75 to $USD125. This poorly considered annoucement will send the hardcore SLers into panic. New landowners will feel very betrayed.  Frankly this step looks like suicide for Second Life.

From AFP:

"Despite the chaos in the world's economies, lead indicators for the Second Life economy remain strong" said John Zdanowski, financial director of Linden Lab, which set up Second Life in 2003.

"Second Life as a whole has been so far unaffected by the recent turmoil in real world markets," he added in a written response to AFP.

Linden Lab is trying to spin this for sure--why would SL be immune to the largest financial crisis in modern history? Come on, this is virtual reality without logging inworld. While the Linden Dollar has been stable, there is huge pressure on the SL economy. There is pressure coming down on Linden Lab in the form of new competitors. Maybe the impact hasn't hit the grid yet, but like the travel industry, the financial crisis will pull down the SL economy latter this year.

Those 37 avatars that voted 'Something about inter-grid travel' are right in the end, as today Linden Lab - not Mr. Kapur - announced the first intergrid teleport to be succeeded. This is a memorable day for virtual worlds interoperability.

Some guesses (random and otherwise) about LL profits and revenues. We hear anecdotally that LL is a $60mm USD/year in revenues and $2.0mm/month is profit (looks a little high). And that LL is rolling in tons of cash (not like google!). Well, good for them if it is true. But issue for us, and all SL residents, is how sustainable is this rate of revenue/profit growth? And how delicate is LL's situation?