The natural cycle of media coverage from hype to bashing is starting to be complete around Second Life, to the relief of many. At the end of this cycle it is much easier to concentrate on the values added by the platform, and the more interesting or exclusive applications that are possible through its use.
On Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail” blog in these days there is a great post about why he doesn’t believe in SL’s value to corporations as an advertising platform, and a very good response from Wagner Au, author of the “New World Notes” blog. The quality of the analysis at both ends is very high, and I am not going to repeat their arguments here, which you can read. But I am sure this is a great example of the clearheaded reporting that we need about the metaverse, if we want to avoid excessive hype, or unreasoned rejection of the new 3d web.