From: bluefire@well.com (Bob Jacobson)
Subject: Re: INDUSTRY: The VR future (was Immersion studies)
Date: 12 Oct 1996 04:07:08 GMT
Message-ID: <53n5hc$2e0@filth.well.com>
Organization: The Well, San Francisco, CA


A lot of what Marc is expressing is the disappointment of the pioneer
who finds a fatal arrow in his back or, to use an older archetype,
Moses staring out over the forbidden Promised Land.  There it is,
happening now, only other people are getting to do it!  

I confess, our field has a remarkably short memory.  Individuals I
worshipped in the early days of VR are practially forgotten by the 
youngsters.  We have few institutions for honoring our past.  Every-
thing must be shiny new and better, which is the corrupting force of
investment capital on our field, not for the good.

My background, actually, is in information policy and design, and in
that realm change is only now getting underway, so that I remain au
currant.  Were I only a "VR person," I might be disturbed that so many
of my contemporaries have dropped out of sight.  (I note, however,
that like Bernie, Gurminder, Martin, Marc, Linda, and Tim just in
today's exchange, they still are trenchant observers on the
sci.virtual-worlds scene.)  We just have to move on.

As to VRML, I think it is a wonderful bit of visual trickery, but
given that VRML "objects" are not and cannot be as powerful devices as
objects as we commonly know them, I would prefer a true OOP solution
to VR on the Net.

Bob Jacobson
bluefire@well.com

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