Product Description

The wholly virtual world known as Second Life has attracted more than a million active users, millions of dollars, and created its own—very real—economy.

The Making of Second Life is the behind-the-scenes story of the Web 2.0 revolution's most improbable enterprise: the creation of a virtual 3-D world with its own industries, culture, and social systems. Now the toast of the Internet economy, and the subject of countless news articles, profiles, and television shows, Second Life is usually known for the wealth of real-world companies (Reuters, Pontiac, IBM) that have created "virtual offices" within it, and the number of users ("avatars") who have become wealthy through their user-created content.

What sets Second Life apart from other online worlds, and what has made it such a success (one million-plus monthly users and growing) is its simple user-centered philosophy. Instead of attempting to control the activities of those who enter it, the creators of Second Life turned them loose: users (also known as Residents) own the rights to the intellectual content they create in-world, and the in-world currency of Linden Dollars is freely exchangeable for U.S. currency. Residents have responded by generating millions of dollars of economic activity through their in-world designs and purchases—currently, the Second Life economy averages more than one million U.S. dollars in transactions every day, while dozens of real-world companies and projects have evolved and developed around content originated in Second Life.

Wagner James Au explores the long, implausible road behind that success, and looks at the road ahead, where many believe that user-created worlds like Second Life will become the Net's next generation and the fulcrum for a revolution in the way we shop, work, and interact. Au's story is narrated from both within the corporate offices of Linden Lab, Second Life's creator, and from within Second Life itself, revealing all the fascinating, outrageous, brilliant, and aggravating personalities who make Second Life a very real place­—and an illuminating mirror on the real (physical) world. Au writes about the wars they fought (sometimes literally), the transformations they underwent, the empires of land and commerce they developed, and above all, the collaborative creativity that makes their society an imperfect utopia, better in some ways than the one beyond their computer screens.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #486358 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-01
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
For those unfamiliar with the hype or the ridicule, Second Life is a massively multi-user online world, a vast simulation created by ordinary loggers-in using 3-D graphic-design tools from the site's proprietor, Linden Labs. Posing as animated avatars, Residents ramble or fly through the videoscape; they socialize with other avatars, create art, have sex, build cities, open shops and nightclubs, spend Linden Dollars (redeemable for real dollars) and fight wars, all while seated at their computer screens. Au, a journalist who chronicled the site as Linden Labs' reporter-avatar, visits the usual dot-com–saga touchstones. There's the shoestring startup by eccentric geeks; the pilgrimage to Burning Man; the bloviating visionary founder, Philip Rosedale (I'm passionate about Second Life because there doesn't need to be a God); the marketing gobbledygook about Leverag[ing] Metaverse Brands. Au celebrates Second Life as a seedbed for unfettered cybercapitalism, a liberating outlet for the masses' pentup creativity and a lucid dream that erases the virtual-real divide. Alas, in his telling, Second Life's ongoing fantasia—the monkey now perched on the wing screamed 'DIEEEE' as he strafed a well-armed babe in a bikini—feels very much like a recounted dream: creative, certainly, but rather tedious and patently irrelevant. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Au’s book is full of rich details about some of Second Life’s most important people." -- New York Post

"In Mr. Au’s fascinating account of the rise of Linden Lab and Second Life he interweaves anecdotes so improbable--catching a wireless signal with a soup can?--that you have to remind yourself what’s real and what’s not.... A remarkable corporate story... he offers some keen observations." -- Wall Street Journal

"Technology journalist Au does a fine job explaining how founder Philip Rosedale and his start-up Linden Lab created this peculiar institution, and his status as a longtime Linden contractor gives him perspective." -- Newsweek

"[Au] is a thoughtful and erudite writer…. [and his] enjoyable, well-written, and thoughtful…book gives us most complete picture we’ve had of how this complex and valuable virtual world came to be, what has happened since then, and why the world should care. -- Daniel Terdiman, CNet News.com

"[Au] presents a comprehensive account that shows why Second Life may be the next great frontier and why it is so appealing to individuals and enterprises worldwide." -- Library Journal

[A] comprehensive history of Second Life’s early days…As new virtual worlds come online and try to lure some of Second Life’s users and hype, the story of how Second Life came to be may provide a road map for others." -- Reuters

[H]ere, for the first time, Au has managed to narrate the real origins of this well-known virtual world… And there is no one better situated to tell those stories than Au...who has been on hand for more of the seminal moments in this virtual world than anyone. -- Daniel Terdiman, CNet News.com

Customer Reviews

Worth a Second Look *^_~*
A very comfortably understandable read, even for the non-technarati. As a very involved resident of Second Life I very much enjoyed this insider look at the beginnings and build up of what has become Second Life. It goes over the people involved, the expectations of the software platform and it's users, and obstacles, and the often unexpected outcomes that overturned a lot of preconceived notions of what people thought was going to happen. Because Second Life is always changing, there is some dated information, but a nice added chapter to bring people up to date on the most recent events and changes. I enjoyed the read, and would recommend this to anyone really interested in Second Life. I've already loaned it to friends who use Second Life and have gotten favorable responses. As a hard back book it's a bit pricey. So a note to the author/publisher: Hey! Fancy putting a digital publication for sale inside of SL? For a less weighty fee? Right now I'm sending my hardback copy to a few SL active friends who might not otherwise get a look at it.

Review from Eshi Otawara
The Making of Second Life is THE book you want to read before any other book about Second Life. Whether you are a 'Second Lifer' or just a curious review reader without any Second Life experience- this book is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in simulated 3d experiences of any kind or even ways of transcending the human embodiment into flesh. It will give you a great insight into what Second Life is (do NOT assume upon the name!), and how Second Life became what it is today. From the conception of the idea, formation of Linden Lab, first residents experiences, romance, protests, war...a fantastic and upbeat read that doesn't ever stray away into 'too much geek talk' or leave you with questions unanswered. Wagner James Au (virtually responsive to the name Hamlet Au) has made a great contribution to the history of human virtuality by writing this book. Thank you.

An interesting overview of a very dynamic space
It can be hard to justify buying a book about a place as fluid and temporal as Second Life. In a world with a constantly-shifting, user-created landscape, what could one write that will be of any use in the next few years?

Given this challenge, Wagner James Au crafts an excellent book about the history and nature of Second Life. Leveraging his status as a former employee and virtual embedded journalist, Au shares with the reader his well-researched subjective viewpoint into a world of fluid forms and fluid personalities. Touching on such topics as the economy, socialization, politics, the nature of self, and the interaction between the real world and the artificial one, the book weaves a narrative that is one part company history, one part personal experience, and one part industry commentary.

While the book overall is an interesting read, I found myself having to swallow some significant typos and informational errors. This is a pet peeve of mine, and I feel the book really could have used a second editorial pass and some fact-checking (for instance, the 3D embedded content viewer inDuality ([...]) is made by Pelican Crossing, not Penguin Crossing). Print is not the web, and sadly, once one publishes an edition of a book with this many errors, it's published forever.

But if you have a tolerance for typos and a willingness to do your own fact-checking (which will be necessary anyway, given the changeable nature of the subject matter), this book is a good read and can serve as a starting point for further forays into the field of 3D interactive worlds, and Second Life specifically.