Immersion vs. Augmentation

I have spent some of the last couple of days thinking about something I first read about at least two years ago. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time in the small hours of this morning playing with the thoughts of how I wanted to start this post. Just begin I guess, otherwise it's like watching my neighbor screwing around with his yard full of junk. (My neighbor is a burned out, early 60ish, old meth addict)...{some of us just stopped a few weeks too late!} Question..... Are you an Immersionist or an Augmentationist here in Secondlife? To better help one determine which you might be, take a look at this link by Henrik Bennetsen from 2006. http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/09/25/immersionist-or-augmentationist/ Personally I fall under the immersionist category and, of course, have those biases. From reading that article though, it's clear that many people including "The Benevolent Monarchy" believe that much of the future growth of Secondlife will come from the augmentationist crowd, I'm not sure of that.... or I might say I fear that . My perception is that those that are Facebook/Farmville type people, if they are someday allowed to easily access Secondlife via a webpage (no software download needed), would so drastically change Secondlife that it's survival as we know it is doubtful. Think that's not where "TBM" is headed? Look at viewer 2.ought oh, it would appear that "TBM" cares more about eventually giving web access than our security. The security issues shown in that jira were brought to the attention of "TBM" a month before that viewer release. Would Secondlife grow if access and platform were easier, absolutely! Facebook has what, 450 million users? But at what cost to the Secondlife we know now. Secondlife isn't easy...that's both a boon and a bane. The figures have been tossed around that it can take 20 hours to figure out Secondlife, where stuff is, how to dress yourself, move around, send IMs, change the time of day...{and three years later I've just about got that part down} =^..^= People want easy, look at Staples "Easy Button" commercials. Those very things that make Secondlife a content creators dream are exactly what makes it "not easy". I often see an expression of incredulity with nooblets after they ask, "What's there to do here?" and I tell them pretty much anything they want...look around, everything you're looking at has been created by people here in Secondlife. It's a rare day that I can just drop in to Secondlife and log out in say 5 minutes...now I have, but not usually. I've learned that if I've somewhere to be and I need to leave in under an hour...don't log in. The other social media sites are a lot easier to just pop in pop out. In a word..they're easy. The very challenges that make Secondlife not easy are what, in the end, makes it what it is today. It's taken me nearly three years to get to where I am today in Secondlife and I don't mean financialy. While I understand the purpose of any corporation is to make a profit I really do feel and hope that Secondlife can be a little different. The experiment we call Secondlife has never been brought to this level ever...gosh, let's don't screw this up. And so it goes my love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते