Difference between revisions of "History of Second Life"

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[[Second Life]] evolved as an idea by former [[Linden Lab]] CEO and founder [[User:Philip Linden|Philip Linden]], who wanted to create a 3D virtual world with user generated content, where they could interact with each other in real time. Linden Lab was founded in 1999 and began the works on Second Life in 2001, which had the internal name ''LindenWorld''.
[[Second Life]] (SL) evolved as an idea by former [[Linden Lab]] CEO and founder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale Philip Rosedale] ([[User:Philip Linden|Philip Linden]]), who wanted to create a 3D virtual world with user generated content, where they could interact with each other in real time. Linden Lab was founded in 1999 and began the works on Second Life in 2001, which had the internal name ''LindenWorld''.


In this early state, Second Life wasn't open to the public, very gun focused and it's [[avatar]]s were made out of [[prim]]s (so called ''[[Primitar]]s''). The video shows beneath shows how the world looked back then and how users could interact with it.<ref>The video is taken from the blog entry [http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/08/18/historical-movie-lindenworld-august-2001/ Historical Movie - LindenWorld August 2001]</ref>  
In this early state, Second Life wasn't open to the public, very gun focused and it's [[avatar]]s were made out of [[prim]]s (so called ''[[Primitar]]s''). The video beneath shows how the world looked back then and how users could interact with it.<ref>The video is taken from the blog entry [http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/08/18/historical-movie-lindenworld-august-2001/ Historical Movie - LindenWorld August 2001]</ref>  


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Linden World was renamed into Second Life.
LindenWorld was renamed into Second Life.
{{Quotation|"Originally, during the Alpha period, the grid was known as Lindenworld. As we were getting ready to launch the Beta, we decided we needed a name that would convey the expansiveness, involvement and complexity we hoped would characterize this world as it grew. We started by debating the merits of a 'place' name versus a 'descriptive' name. We believed a place name would give people a sense of destination, and possibly some added layer of meaning. And we thought a descriptive name would help people understand this new concept of a shared, 3D collaborative space.<br><br>
{{Quotation|"Originally, during the Alpha period, the grid was known as Lindenworld. As we were getting ready to launch the Beta, we decided we needed a name that would convey the expansiveness, involvement and complexity we hoped would characterize this world as it grew. We started by debating the merits of a 'place' name versus a 'descriptive' name. We believed a place name would give people a sense of destination, and possibly some added layer of meaning. And we thought a descriptive name would help people understand this new concept of a shared, 3D collaborative space.<br><br>
We had a lot of ideas for place names --- one of my favorites was Sansara, which was not only euphonic, but had an interesting meaning in the original Sanskrit, meaning roughly 'ever changing world'. Ultimately, though, we chose to go with a descriptive name, and looked at many derivatives of Terra, Viva, and life. We kept coming back to Life2, and then landed on Second Life as more interesting, more evocative and more what we hoped the world could become as it evolved and grew to be as big as life. <br><br>
We had a lot of ideas for place names --- one of my favorites was Sansara, which was not only euphonic, but had an interesting meaning in the original Sanskrit, meaning roughly 'ever changing world'. Ultimately, though, we chose to go with a descriptive name, and looked at many derivatives of Terra, Viva, and life. We kept coming back to Life2, and then landed on Second Life as more interesting, more evocative and more what we hoped the world could become as it evolved and grew to be as big as life. <br><br>
And that's how it came about!" |[[User:Robin Linden|Robin Linden]]<ref>The old forum post isn't available anymore and the quote is retrieved from http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Linden_World</ref>}}
And that's how it came about!" |[[User:Robin Linden|Robin Linden]]<ref>The old forum post isn't available anymore and the quote is retrieved from http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Linden_World</ref>}}
On March 13th, 2002, the first [[Resident]] ({{User2|Steller Sunshine}}) joined Second Life and the public beta started seven month later in October. The [[grid]] consisted of 16 [[region]]s, the first one beeing called [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Da%20Boom/128/128/2 Da Boom].  
On March 13th, 2002, the first [[Resident]] ({{User2|Steller Sunshine}}) joined Second Life and the public beta started seven month later in October. The [[grid]] consisted of 16 [[region]]s, the first one beeing called [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Da%20Boom/128/128/2 Da Boom], which might be a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang Big Bang] of the virtual world.  


[[Image:Agni_2002-11-21.jpg|center|700px]]
[[Image:Agni_2002-11-21.jpg|center|700px]]
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While in the beginning, the whole financing concept of Second Life based on payed memberships, the focus was soon shifted to land sales. Residents became able to acquire and rent land, which became also a business model for some Residents themself.  
While in the beginning, the whole financing concept of Second Life based on payed memberships, the focus was soon shifted to land sales. Residents became able to acquire and rent land, which became also a business model for some Residents themself.  


The grid was split in the so called "[[Teen Grid]]" for Residents between 13 and 17 years of age and the [[Main Grid]] for everyone 18 and older. (WHEN?)
In order to protect minors, the grid was split in the so called [[Teen Grid]] for Residents between 13 and 17 years of age and the [[Main Grid]] for everyone 18 and beneath. (WHEN?)


On May 1st 2006, Second Life Resident [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung Anshe Chung] was featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine BusinessWorld and reported to be the first person becomeing an RL millionair due to Second Life business. This story brought great media coverage and pitched the population growth further.  
On May 1st 2006, Second Life Resident [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung Anshe Chung] was featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine BusinessWorld and reported to be the first person becoming an Real Life (RL) millionair due to Second Life business. This story brought great media coverage and pitched the population growth further.  


The client was released under an open source license and Residents were asked to take part in the [[Architecture Working Group]], to take part in the developement. (WHEN?)
The client was [[Source_downloads|open sourced]] in January 2007<ref>Opensourcing the client in January 2007 http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/01/08/embracing-the-inevitable/</ref> and Residents were asked to take part in the [[Architecture Working Group]] (AWG), to take part in the developement. The AWG had it's first meeting on [[AWG_Meeting_1|September 13th, 2007]].


On May 21st, 2007, the [[windlight]] rendering were announced<ref>Windlight announcement: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/05/21/windlight-atmospheric-rendering-comes-to-second-life/</ref> and became part of the regular release in client version [[Release_Notes/Second_Life_Release/1.19.1|1.19.1]].<ref>Windlight release: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/04/02/the-dawning-of-a-new-viewer-second-life-1191-now-available/</ref> With the introduction of this feature, the graphics of Second Life improved dramatically.


With the introduction of [[windlight]] in (DATE), the graphics of Second Life improved dramatically.
Philip Rosedale announced to step back from CEO in mid March 2008<ref name="philipCEO">Philips announcement to step back from CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/03/14/changing-my-job/</ref> and introduced new CEO [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_D._Kingdon Mark D. Kingdon] ([[User:M Linden|M Linden]]) one month later.<ref>M Linden announced as new CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/04/22/announcing-our-new-ceo/</ref>. Philip is still an integral part of the company and became ''chairman of the board''.<ref name="philipCEO" />


First Grid TP on July 8th, 2008<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/08/ibm-linden-lab-interoperability-announcement/</ref>, start of the [[Open Grid Public Beta]] July 31st in the same year.<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/31/open-grid-public-beta-begins-today/</ref>
[[Mono]] was launched in August 2008 as part of the [[Release_Notes/Second_Life_Server/1.24|1.24 Server]] deploy<ref>Blog about the Mono launch: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/08/20/mono-launch/</ref>
On January 20th, 2009, Linden Lab announces that it aquired the SL online marketplaces [http://onrez.com/ OnRez] (formerly SLboutique) and [http://www.xstreetsl.com/ XStreet SL] (formerly SLeXchange) in order to merge and integrate them in the SL service.<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2009/01/20/xstreet-sl-and-onrez-to-join-linden-lab/</ref>


'''Topics to cover'''
'''Topics to cover'''
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*2004 - First Burning Life event<ref>View trailer at http://blip.tv/file/1219410/</ref>
*2004 - First Burning Life event<ref>View trailer at http://blip.tv/file/1219410/</ref>
*Split in [[Teen Grid]] and [[Main Grid]] (when?)
*Split in [[Teen Grid]] and [[Main Grid]] (when?)
*[[Source_downloads|Opensourcing the client]] in January 2007<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/01/08/embracing-the-inevitable/</ref> and founded the [[Architecture Working Group]] in later in September<ref>First [[AWG]] meeting [[AWG_Meeting_1|September 13th, 2007]]</ref>.
*[[Mono]] was launched in August 2008 as part of the [[Release_Notes/Second_Life_Server/1.24|1.24 Server]] deploy<ref>Blog about the Mono launch: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/08/20/mono-launch/</ref>
*First Grid TP on July 8th, 2008<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/08/ibm-linden-lab-interoperability-announcement/</ref>, start of the [[Open Grid Public Beta]] July 31st in the same year.<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/31/open-grid-public-beta-begins-today/</ref>
*Philip announces to step back from CEO in mid March 2008<ref>Philips announcement to step back from CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/03/14/changing-my-job/</ref> and announces new CEO M Linden one month later.<ref>M Linden announced as new CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/04/22/announcing-our-new-ceo/</ref>
* On January 20th, 2009, Linden Lab announces that it aquired the SL online marketplaces [http://onrez.com/ OnRez] (formerly SLboutique) and [http://www.xstreetsl.com/ XStreet SL] (formerly SLeXchange)<ref>http://blog.secondlife.com/2009/01/20/xstreet-sl-and-onrez-to-join-linden-lab/</ref>
* maybe [[ruth]], [[hippo]]
* maybe [[ruth]], [[hippo]]


Revision as of 06:23, 21 February 2009

Second Life (SL) evolved as an idea by former Linden Lab CEO and founder Philip Rosedale (Philip Linden), who wanted to create a 3D virtual world with user generated content, where they could interact with each other in real time. Linden Lab was founded in 1999 and began the works on Second Life in 2001, which had the internal name LindenWorld.

In this early state, Second Life wasn't open to the public, very gun focused and it's avatars were made out of prims (so called Primitars). The video beneath shows how the world looked back then and how users could interact with it.[1]

LindenWorld was renamed into Second Life.

"Originally, during the Alpha period, the grid was known as Lindenworld. As we were getting ready to launch the Beta, we decided we needed a name that would convey the expansiveness, involvement and complexity we hoped would characterize this world as it grew. We started by debating the merits of a 'place' name versus a 'descriptive' name. We believed a place name would give people a sense of destination, and possibly some added layer of meaning. And we thought a descriptive name would help people understand this new concept of a shared, 3D collaborative space.

We had a lot of ideas for place names --- one of my favorites was Sansara, which was not only euphonic, but had an interesting meaning in the original Sanskrit, meaning roughly 'ever changing world'. Ultimately, though, we chose to go with a descriptive name, and looked at many derivatives of Terra, Viva, and life. We kept coming back to Life2, and then landed on Second Life as more interesting, more evocative and more what we hoped the world could become as it evolved and grew to be as big as life.

And that's how it came about!"

– Robin Linden[2]

On March 13th, 2002, the first Resident (Steller Sunshine) joined Second Life and the public beta started seven month later in October. The grid consisted of 16 regions, the first one beeing called Da Boom, which might be a reference to the Big Bang of the virtual world.

Agni 2002-11-21.jpg

While population and land slowly grew, Linden Lab released Second Life in June 2003. Back then, it had neither a currency nor where users able to teleport. It was in the end of 2003 when the Linden Dollar was introduced and the LindeX currency exchange followed about two years later.[3]

In order to restrict simulator usage, a tax system was introduced which required every Resident to pay a weekly fee, depending on the prims they had rezzed inworld. This system was easy to trick, by just packing all prims into the inventory on pay day, and rezzing them again one day later.[4]

The first trailer of Second Life was downloadable in 2003 and is shown beneath.

While in the beginning, the whole financing concept of Second Life based on payed memberships, the focus was soon shifted to land sales. Residents became able to acquire and rent land, which became also a business model for some Residents themself.

In order to protect minors, the grid was split in the so called Teen Grid for Residents between 13 and 17 years of age and the Main Grid for everyone 18 and beneath. (WHEN?)

On May 1st 2006, Second Life Resident Anshe Chung was featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine BusinessWorld and reported to be the first person becoming an Real Life (RL) millionair due to Second Life business. This story brought great media coverage and pitched the population growth further.

The client was open sourced in January 2007[5] and Residents were asked to take part in the Architecture Working Group (AWG), to take part in the developement. The AWG had it's first meeting on September 13th, 2007.

On May 21st, 2007, the windlight rendering were announced[6] and became part of the regular release in client version 1.19.1.[7] With the introduction of this feature, the graphics of Second Life improved dramatically.

Philip Rosedale announced to step back from CEO in mid March 2008[8] and introduced new CEO Mark D. Kingdon (M Linden) one month later.[9]. Philip is still an integral part of the company and became chairman of the board.[8]

First Grid TP on July 8th, 2008[10], start of the Open Grid Public Beta July 31st in the same year.[11]

Mono was launched in August 2008 as part of the 1.24 Server deploy[12]

On January 20th, 2009, Linden Lab announces that it aquired the SL online marketplaces OnRez (formerly SLboutique) and XStreet SL (formerly SLeXchange) in order to merge and integrate them in the SL service.[13]

Topics to cover

  • rating system
  • telehubs
  • life time accounts
  • First Private Region (which and when?)
  • 2004 - First Burning Life event[14]
  • Split in Teen Grid and Main Grid (when?)
  • maybe ruth, hippo

References

  1. ↑ The video is taken from the blog entry Historical Movie - LindenWorld August 2001
  2. ↑ The old forum post isn't available anymore and the quote is retrieved from http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Linden_World
  3. ↑ See chatlog with Peter Millionsofus (formerly Lawrence Linden).
  4. ↑ See the Google video Glimpse inside a Metaverse: The virtual world Second Life
  5. ↑ Opensourcing the client in January 2007 http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/01/08/embracing-the-inevitable/
  6. ↑ Windlight announcement: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/05/21/windlight-atmospheric-rendering-comes-to-second-life/
  7. ↑ Windlight release: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/04/02/the-dawning-of-a-new-viewer-second-life-1191-now-available/
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Philips announcement to step back from CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/03/14/changing-my-job/
  9. ↑ M Linden announced as new CEO: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/04/22/announcing-our-new-ceo/
  10. ↑ http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/08/ibm-linden-lab-interoperability-announcement/
  11. ↑ http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/31/open-grid-public-beta-begins-today/
  12. ↑ Blog about the Mono launch: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/08/20/mono-launch/
  13. ↑ http://blog.secondlife.com/2009/01/20/xstreet-sl-and-onrez-to-join-linden-lab/
  14. ↑ View trailer at http://blip.tv/file/1219410/


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