I have never heard of Second Life anywhere but here. 
After much commotion on list, I decided to at least
take a peak and see what all the squawking was about.

I'm 55  I've got a 34-year old daughter and a 30-year
old son.  When I was Scout Leader for the 34-year
old's Girl Scout Troop, we took the kids to the now
defunct (maybe that says something in itself) Marine
Land that was out here in California.  We four Scout
Leaders nobly wanted to give our girls exposure to
some culture and an opportunity to learn something
about marine life.  Two memories stick out.  First,
all four the leaders an one of the Scouts was crapped
on by a seagull--that's what the girls remember. 
Secondly, the girls couldn't have cared less about
MarineLand because there were video games available,
and all they wanted to do is play Ms. PacMan.  That's
what the leaders remember.  Nobody really remembers
the experience of Marine Land but for those two
details, and the experience was largely for naught.

My second child, being 4 years younger than the first,
grew up incredibly addicted to video games (thanks to
my dear sister who bought him one over my objections).
 Two weekends ago, I was there in NoCal spending the
weekend with him in celebration of my granddaughter's
2nd birthday.  Because of bad knees, I slept
downstairs on the couch.  I woke up a couple of times
to see my 30-year old son, father of two, going nuts
on video games on X-Box with a headset and graphics
that beat the heck out of what you might find in Iraq.
 It was crazy.  

We spent time before I went home at Jack London
Square.  Time in nature.  In large measure, my son,
his 30-year old wife, and their eldest child were
ready to say been there, done that within about 5
minutes.  Ok, it was nice, but it wasn't as exciting
as a video game.

So what does this have to do with Second Life?  Second
Life is going to appeal to kids in the age range of my
kids (the 30-something crowd) and younger.  These kids
grew up with video games and, if they had a choice of
going to a museum or playing with an alternate reality
on a video game, they would take the video just about
any time.  They want constant stimulation--lights,
bells, whistles.   I'm sorry, you're not going to be
able to stimulate them as effectively (and
cost-effectively) on an alt-reality medium.  Yes, you
may make a presence, and the founders of Second Life
richer, but you won't do anything to grow your base,
and you certainly won't bring in a clientele that will
sustain your museum.

It's my belief that, if you move your presence to the
fantasy world, you will doom the reality of your
museum.  If Second Life wants to sponsor your
presence, at no cost to you, and to provide you with
techie to help you sustain a presence--great.  Maybe
you'll reach somebody, and it wont cost you.  But
technology is expensive and technologists who can make
technology work effectively are even more so--I work
in IT so I've got a little background on this one.

I would chance to guess that those are promoting
Second Life here are the same folks who are stimulated
by it.  Unless you do quality market testing before
making some sort of an investment, youre just throwing
away your donors money, quite frankly.  Those apt to
sustain you through their contributions won't visit
the site, and if the I Want It Know, Fast and Dazzling
Crowd can see you for free on an Alt Reality Site,
they're not going to go to your museum.  It will be
been there, done that

Now if you personally want to invest your dollars and
go play there, go for it.  Just raise your right hand
and admit "I am the Ultimate Video Game Jockey, and
I'm Proud of It!"

Them's my 2 cents on the matter.  Now, if you can make
a Nintendo WII version (like the one done about the
aquarium that was recently released), you MAY be able
to improve your visitation.  That's a get-active kind
of game that may inspire folks to move their butts and
their hands into their pocketbooks to visit and/or
purchase.  In fact, I truly believe most aquariums and
zoos should make that Nintendo WII game avaiable for
sale at their institutions.

I bought a new Mac at the end of the year.  it's
awesome with incredible graphics and such.  But
there's so much more to see and learn online than
simply playing video games!

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