Thanks to Faris for posting the Most Contagious 2007. I have just seen something very cool but very scary as well. The feeling has always been that China were learning from the western commercialised world to step up and take over. This is a great start to cutting out the middle man
China / MindArk /
One of this year's most mind-boggling stories came
from The Guardian, which reported in November on an
ambitious co-venture between the Chinese government
and MindArk, Gothenburg, the company behind virtual
world Entropia Universe. The plan is to construct a
virtual world that will play host to billions of avatars,
repeating what China has done in manufacturing, only
this time in services. Hosting 7 million avatars at a time,
this will dwarf Second Life's 50,000 average online users
at any one time, and the Chinese authorities plan to
convert an 100 sq km industrial site to house the project’s
servers. The implications for international trade and
commerce are huge, potentially creating a one-stop
shop that connects consumers direct with Chinese
suppliers and offering a base for international companies'
online wares. OK, it doesn't sound that sexy, but it is
social shopping, virtual existences, online retail, and a
potentially hugely destablising influence on the global
economy that we can't afford to ignore. It’s already
being described as surpassing the Industrial Revolution
in terms of velocity and influence.
Should make things interesting in the virtual and real worlds
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1 comment:
Saw this Guardian piece too. Scary, in an exciting sort of way. It's just the scale of commitment which beggars belief
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