SL : the story behind the story
Second Life seems like an overnight sensation–it drew almost a million new residents in the last two months of 2006, doubling its population. In fact, it began in 1999, when Philip Rosedale quit his job as chief technology officer at RealNetworks to realize his lifelong dream of building a virtual-reality environment. Most people he knew thought he was quixotic and certain to fail. He almost did. No wonder the 38-year-old Rosedale describes the recent onslaught of attention as “almost surreal.
It always helps to put something in context when one hears the story behind the story. Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale does just that with the Second Life story in his interview with Michael Fitzgerald which is this months Inc. magazine cover story. Recommended reading.