From VentureBeat

In a virtual world that offers companies like IBM an open architecture, or interoperability with other virtual worlds and sites, would be a big hit, suggested Lee Dierdorf, VP of web strategy and enablement, in a conversation with VentureBeat Friday. “What started me down this path wasn’t Second Life,” he said of his desire to experiment with 3D, but rather “Tom Cruise in Minority Report.” He recalls watching Cruise creating vignettes from different action movies, and realizing how powerful the visual experience can be for researching. “Do I think anonymous avatars dressed in funny clothes are the future of business? No, that doesn’t interest me.” Second Life remains too closed and quirky, he said, for IBM to settle on it long-term.

From Keith O’Brien

While it’s all too easy to dismiss any new development online as “something for the kids” or “something for the younger staff to deal with,” I make this guarded prediction: Second Life will likely be more important to marketers than blogs.

In the Web world, all of those software platforms are just different conduits for communication. As more digital consumers - often in that demo- and psychographic sweet spot - spend hours in Second Life, they end up in a vacuum that effectively closes out other communications: blogs, podcasts, and news Web sites. If they’re in Second Life and you’re not, they’re not listening to you. If you never got on the blog train, here’s your second chance.

Let’s hear some positive results, so I can stand by my grandiose claim.