Reuters reports that IBM is to spend the equivalent of the $20 per active resident in virtual world SecondLife. They plan to invest investment $10 million over the next 12 months in the world with at most 500,000 active residents. Reuters says:
IBM has already established the biggest Second Life presence of any Fortune 500 company. It uses the world primarily for training and meetings but has also built a simulation of the Wimbledon tennis tournament… The company is also looking to build a private 3D intranet where it will be able to discuss sensitive business information. It is moving to champion what it calls “v-business” — short for virtual business — just as it championed “e-business”, or electronic business, during the dot-com boom.
Meanwhile IBM’s website that reaches a few more than half a million, remains dull, uninteresting and very 1.0. Did we hear someone at the back say “Bandwagon?”
IBM accelerates push into 3D virtual worlds | Tech&Sci | Technology | Reuters.com
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I think your headline is misleading. The news isn’t saying IBM is spending $10M in Second Life. From the Rueters piece:
“IBM is ramping up its push into virtual worlds with an investment of roughly US$10 million over the next year, including an expanded presence within Second Life and the development of its own 3D intranet.”
They may only spend a million in SL and spend a $9M developing an IBM-flavored Croquet for their intranet with hopes of growing that into an external offering.
November 12th, 2006 at 10:56 am