Meeting in the ether

ABSTRACT

The virtual-world environment of Second Life is attracting considerable media attention. Some see it as heralding new ways of working and playing online; others question its prospects. In this column, Bruce Damer considers the history of virtual worlds, in which he played an active part. Upon meeting Bruce in Prague in 1994, I was immediately impressed with his insight, energy, and creativity. His DigiBarn computer museum in Santa Cruz is a unique, invaluable computer-history resource, including vintage computers that visitors can experience hands-on.---Jonathan Grudin, Timelines editor

REFERENCES

• 1: Bruce Damer , Jeremy Judson , Jackie Dove , Steve DiPaola , Ali Ebtekar , Stasia McGehee , Richard Walker , Kate Reber, Avatars!; Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet, Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA, 1997
• 2: DigitalSpace and Contact Consortium publications on virtual worlds, 1995 to 2007: http://www.digitalspace.com/papers
• 3: Virtual Worlds Timeline history project, on the Web at: http://www.vwtimeline.org

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.0 General

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)