Your comment fails. Many companies jumped on the hype bandwagon but did not fully realize what they were getting themselves into. To have a presence in SL, one must dedicate a lot of time to it. A company must have something that will A. attract residents to their location and B. keep them coming back. How is it that so many no name clothing designers are well known in SL yet I never seen anyone wear or talk about what's cool at the American Apparel or Adidas locations? SL is not a billboard and requires much more effort than putting up a graphic with smiling people pretending to enjoy said product.

SL began as an MMO world created by it's users. So your swipe at users using SL for their own means is a complete lack of understanding of where SL came from. Without these users, SL would not be where it is today. Where do you get off thinking that SL can and should only be used as a business tool? Do you even know about SL grid? These are business/education based grids totally separate from the SL world. Very viable for businesses who actually see an advantage in having one (like collaborative products and virtual meetings, etc).

Anyway, this whole article screams fail. SL stands on it's own and is supported by it's users. It is probably the most creative (both in practice and potential) environment we have in the world today. SL does not need hype to stay afloat. Increasing user concurrency is proof of this.

Got a link to that article? I'm aware of no financial backers at all, who have left.

As for other organizations, the number in SL keeps growing, not shrinking.

"I really think SL had SO many opportunities to REALLY make SL into something relevant and innovative and instead they relied on users to come up with ways to use it as a tool.

I read an article a few days ago listing all of the companies (including previous financial backers) who have abandoned their presence in SL.

It's really too bad. Perhaps they can still do something with this project."

I'm at a loss as to what exactly you're talking about Pingles: SL made the absolutely best decision to let the residents determine the content in-world which is why SL is where it is today, i.e. "relevant and innovative", so I'm not sure what you are apparently mourning the loss of? Unless you can cite sources and specifics, your somewhat premature obituary of SL is simply vague negativism. As to companies pulling out of SL, please provide sources and details: it's worth noting that, as with the Internet, simply creating a passive presence in SL isn't enough, a company or organization needs to be proactive and involved there too.

As to hype, the less the better: eventually SL will no longer have novelty value and merge seamlessly into the available options for individual and corporate global interaction and communication.