The Queasy Feeling

Back in 1994, I asked the Broker I worked for at the time for a $600 budget to develop a newfangled thing called a "website" which would display our real estate listings on the web. I was turned down, with the explanation that "nobody will ever see it" and "it's a novelty." I had a queasy feeling that something wonderful was about to happen and we were going to miss it. Stubbornness won out, and I wound up authoring the page myself in early 1995, which resulted in huge amounts of publicity for the Company, and needless to say the web did not end up a novelty act.

It's baaaaack.....

Lately I've been getting that queasy feeling again. That, with the emergence of Virtual Worlds, we are on the brink of something which will revolutionize the way people use the web, and I for one don't want to miss it. The naysayers have some valid points, but thinking back, I heard the very same about the internet.

New Technology always meets resistance

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, maker of silent movies, 1927

"It's a great invention but who would want to use it anyway?" Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S. President, after a demonstration of Alexander Bell's telephone, 1872

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

According to research by the Gartner Group, 80 percent of active Internet users will be participating in nongaming virtual worlds, such as Second Life, by the end of 2011. At the moment there are 12.4 million "residents" in Second Life, the most prominent virtual community, and it grows by close to a million people a month. The cost of a virtual world presence need not be high, and the risks are minor ones. Yet I hear many around me spouting the very same negative opinions that I heard about the World Wide Web in 1994.

Testing the Waters

My office has recently opened a location in Second Life but it hasn't been publicized, as I am still working on the finishing touches (photo above.) I hope to connect with younger recruits and consumers, and have added features such as the ability to contact an agent from "in-world" in real time. One unique opportunity within Second Life is the ability to walk through a home with a prospect... a home which has yet to be built in real life. The buyer can "see," and actually walk around in,  a product which doesn't exist yet. The agent can use the built-in voice functionality to talk to the buyer, no matter where in the world they may be. Interestingly, all content in Second Life was built by the residents, and creators retain all intellectual property rights to their work.

Let's Swim!

Certainly we will make a few missteps, but an open mind and the ability to be flexible and adapt is critical to survival in our changing industry. "It's too empty," "no one will find us," "what if someone does something offensive," are all excuses not to try. At some point, the lines between the web and the virtual worlds will start to blur, and those that have a head start in this new medium will thrive. It's sink-or-swim;  come on in, the (virtual) water's fine....