The Gartner group predicts that by 2011 80% of active Internet users will have a presence in a virtual world. I must admit I have yet to fully grasp what this means (after spending a little time in Second Life). To me, the Internet is already a virtual world – I interact with different people, explore different information resources, take on different roles, etc. than I do in my physical world. Isn’t this what we all do? I admit the interface may change (I may need to represent myself in virtual space as a virtual persona – i.e., avatar), but what about the Gartner prediction is assumed to be that startling?
