Catching up on reactions to yesterdays PlayStation Home announcement at GDC, and stripping out the fan-boy banter, the overall response is primarily positive. Phil Harrison’s presentation named Maya and Grouper as partners of choice for 3D design tools and user created content respectively. While currently running as a closed beta PlayStation Home goes open beta in April and launches in the Fall. Building communities and socialisation experiences with brands is something we will see alot more of going forward. This is a very good thing for all virtual world participants including Linden Lab. Having already provided the proof-of-concept with Second Life, Sony’s entry further validates the virtual worlds space and its place within the third wave of the Web – The Living Web.

So who’s making the biggest impact online? We considered hundreds of the Web’s most noteworthy power brokers, bloggers, brainiacs, and entrepreneurs to figure out whose contributions are shaping the way we use the Web. We whittled the list down to the top 50–well, actually the top 62–people, but as you’ll see, there are some you just can’t separate.

PC World has published its 50 most important people on the Web. Representatives from all three waves of the Web are included. It serves as a useful whos-who within the revolution, counter-revolution and evolution of the Web.

The first wave was the dot.com era from 1995 to 2000. A top-down, commercially driven revolution which was for the most part supply driven. While deemed by many a failure it forever challenged us to rethink how we perceive organizations and their role within our world around us. Players such as Amazon, Ebay and Yahoo are the poster children of the first wave.

The second wave is the Social Networks era which we are currently living through. This bottom-up, grassroots driven counter-revolution is what happens when the demand side starts supplying itself as described in Cluetrain. It is a period of great disruption and experimentation with proof-of-concepts emerging. Google, MySpace, Skype and Wikipedia are the poster children of this wave.

The third wave is the Living Web which represents the evolution of the Web. Unbeknownst to many it is already here. This middle space is where lessons learned from the first and second waves are being remixed, reused and recycled to co-create hybrids which are harnessing emergent technologies to enable the evolution of the Web into the Living Web.

Second Life is an early first-mover within this space. Time will tell whether it becomes a first-prover poster child of this wave. William Gibson put it best when he declared the future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed yet. Interesting times indeed.

Secondly Jesse Linden posted a request for volunteers to participate in a usability review. While initially worried that Linden Lab were undertaking this exercise internally it was reassuring to read Andrew Crow’s post over on Adaptive Path that they are on board for this project. Given their expertise within this space this is welcome news.

Thirdly Robin Linden announced contingency plans over the interim to try and keep things running within the current grid constraints. Some of these plans will necessitate short term sacrifices to keep the show on the road. No they will not be popular but yes they are required.

Mark Wallace raises a number of valid concerns in a record breaking 1,800+ word post which is recommended reading. I am less concerned than Mark about Philip, Cory and the Linden Lab team getting the next steps right or the future of virtual worlds. With input from OpenSL and a number of other communities work around’s will be found.

The proof of concept has already happened and virtual worlds are here to stay. We have entered virgin territory on how to scale Second Life. While MOU, ESC, RRR and all SL residents grow increasingly frustrated by grid performance issues we are all on a voyage of discovery. In dino inc I talk about leadership, followership and fellowship in the 21st needing to become more comfortable with the Columbus School of Management.

When Columbus left Spain he did not know where he was going, when he reached the US he did not know where he was and when he returned to Spain he could not tell anyone where he had been. However over seven years he successfully completed the journey on a number of occasions. Having followed what Philip and Cory have achieved since 1998 I have every confidence that they will figure things out again on this occasion also. Onwards.

Six months ago the words voice, presence and flow meant little to our conversation. This week I learned that they had become part of the organizations very DNA. Chatting about two recent Hollywood Reporter pieces on SL it was remarked that before we met both pieces would have gone completely over their heads. Today they are very much in tune with the meaning contained within.

Which has prompted me to begin writing a follow on book to the soon to be released dino inc. No working title yet but it will feature case studies of organizations who are using Second Life to re-imagine and reinvent themselves. Interesting times indeed.

As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in his last book Blink people tend to immediately form an opinion at the outset of making contact in RL. Within SL this does not happen as both parties have to engage in a 3D immersive environment before learning more about each other. It is one the most powerful neutralizing techniques I’ve experienced over the years.

So when I read Daniel Terdiman’s interview with Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale which discussed voice back in October I knew the countdown had begun. Adding voice to text will help SL become more mainstream and accessible. Vivox were first to provide a SL integrated VOIP service. Centric’s launch of SecondTalk today gives a flavor of whats to come.

Given current instability issues with SL I will not be recommending use of an integrated SL offering anytime soon but will continue to use third party solutions such as Skype, Gizmo, TeamSpeak and Jajah for now. Tools still relatively unknown to much of the mainstream public.

An example of how SL is currently integrating with other social media tools to enable people find their voice? 100 participants have registered for this years TESOL Electronic Village Online from around the globe. Over the next 6 weeks they will use VOIP, Yahoo Groups, Wikispaces and SL to enrich the experience for everyone concerned without ever having to leave their home locations. And that is a very good thing.

Eric Schonfeld’s interview with Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale for this months Business 2.0 cover story, Grace Wong’s interview with Linden Lab CEO John Zdanowski and Victor Keegan’s piece in the Guardian were all discussed.

Since its inception the Internet has been a melting pot for alchemy with SL a very real proof-of-concept for those who are only now tuning into the Living Web. Stories of an ever increasing number of talented people making something out of nothing is a theme that runs throughout dino inc which comes out in January. All of the above is merely a taste of what the digitization of everything holds in store. Interesting times indeed.

Every day more big companies turn their attention to this new medium, realizing that it really represents something new. I’m now convinced that one day Second Life or something related to it will become a Google/Yahoo/MySpace-scale company.

Maybe Second Life will grow organically to become that company. Or an existing giant striving to stay relevant might buy it. Or maybe somebody will build a different, even better virtual world.

David Kirkpatrick RL / David Liveoak SL dismisses claims from some quarters that SL is overhyped in his Fortune piece today. As a longtime Internet watcher David has seen more than his fair share of hype over the years. Not surprisingly we concur with his view.

Virtual Worlds are going to play a leading part in the third wave of the Web which I refer to as the living web in dino inc. Organizations wishing to begin learning how to remain relevant in an always on, open and connected world would do well to start experimenting within SL sooner as opposed to later.

Having said all that, I found the book fascinating and thought-provoking because it’s a genuine attempt to point to something that I feel is incredibly important and generally excluded from most management books: the mysterious stuff that goes on between we human beings that cannot be reduced to a business process. And I know there have been seminal moments in my life where I’ve experienced groups of people thinking together in a way where one begins to sense something really powerful at work, below the surface.

One of the great benefits of a travel day is the opportunity it affords to catch up on some reading. Yesterday was such a day and it gave me time to ponder some unrelated but connected posts which had been swirling around in the hopper.

Jon Udell’s recent series of posts on SL – the first and second on 3D simulation, the third commentary on a breakout session at the Greater IBM Virtual Block Party and the latest post looked at 3D telepresence – had all registered.

As it turns out I have been having some great conversations with SL residents of late on each of the above. One of those is Nobody Fugazi who has written a great two part post on presence. It beautifully captures the meaning of the concept which is extremely difficult to verbalism at the best of times.

When not helping people out with petrol money and becoming one with immovable objects friend and fellow facilitator Johnnie Moore shared his thoughts on presence. Using Peter Senge et al latest work titled Presence as the platform Johnnie thinks aloud on a subject we have discussed on a number of occasions.

On the last occasion we spoke I shared with Johnnie my thoughts from a dino inc chapter titled Fight or Flee to Flow which to my simplistic world view perfectly captures the essence of presence. Rereading each of the above posts and accompanying comments I was reminded how fortunate each of us are to be living in such interesting times.

The second piece by Robert Holden looks at the knock-on effect of the rapid increase of registered accounts on the SL currency supply and its likely economic impact. Both pieces serve as a reality check for organizations that SL is not a game but a place with real people who’s time and space must be respected and trust earned.

Learning to reinvent themselves in realtime are skillsets oganizations across all sectors are currently struggling to come to terms with. Fostering connectivity, collaboration and co-creation which in turn builds and strengthens communities are key to participating in the revolution and evolution of markets. It is something I have written about in dino inc and is why I am excited about the role SL is playing within the participation age. Interesting times indeed.