I completely agree with Antti.
We may need different tailored clients (browsers/viewers). For the
extremely high end gaming, and then a basic standard browser for
normal everyday interactions (social network). Also collaboration
with existing technologies (VoIP/Skype, e-mail, SMS, whiteboard, Video
playback and Video streaming, etc.) will increase the value of 3D
Internet technologies.
Just as Dan Miller stated:
"Just like the web, it is imperative not to assume that one set of
client capabilities fits all use cases. While a big honking PC
running the latest NVidia drivers and the latest Windows may work
nicely, you should also be able to log on and interact over an iPhone,
or even a less capable device. Meaning, a stock Ubuntu install on an
old machine should work as well, with visualization somewhere between
the honking gamer's box and the mobile phone with the 3" screen."
I completely agree. Keep the system open and cross-platform. It
should run on Unix/Linux, Windows, OS X, 3G iPhone, G-1 (Android) and
possibly even the Blackberry Storm.
We don't want to "cripple" ourselves by migrating towards any one
platform (such as a Microsoft based system). Try to keep it as "cross
platform" as possible.
TrueSpace has been around since the beginning of time (I remember
using TrueSpace back in 1994). I'd been using various Caligari
software since 1986, and it's hard to believe that Microsoft gobbled
them up.
I guess that's good for Microsoft, but bad for the rest of us. ;-)
Just as Microsoft killed off Netscape, I'm sure they'll just use this
technology as a way to push their Virtual Earth service, and begin
shoving their standards down other people's throats.
I personally wouldn't take the bait, and I believe in staying the
course. Continue developing open source standards, and just stay away
from any proprietary technologies that Microsoft will attempt to shove
down our throats.
I don't think one browser will be a "fit for all" solution. We will
have to develop open-source browsers for a wide variety of hardware
platforms and various operating systems (to include Linux, and OS X)
as well as mobile phone devices (like iPhone, Android/G-1, and
possibly even Blackberry Storm).
I'm not sure that Microsoft made an "excellent acquisition" by
purchasing Caligari, but it's something that Microsoft needed to try
and "keep up" with Google. I still think Microsoft is way behind in
the game, and I seriously doubt even the purchase of Caligari will
help them keep up.
I really think true open source development and open source software
will continue to kick the pants off of Microsoft. They are an "aging
dinosaur" and it's only a matter of time before the Open Source
community does them in. Look at how "rock solid" many open source
platforms have become (think LAMP). You look at Linux/Apache/MySQL/
PhP/Python systems, and these are developer workhorses. Very thin,
light machines, that don't hog up all your resources like the
Microsoft machines.
Keep the code thin, light, and clean. It's sad to see Caligari get
swallowed up by Microsoft, but it just shows how desparate Microsoft
is getting. They know they're falling behind in the game. I still
seriously doubt even with the Caligari acquisition that it will help
Microsoft catch up to Google Earth/Google Maps. The one thing that
Google is very good at is working with the Open Source community. I
can't say the same for Microsoft (and their crazy SDK's & licensing
agreements). Case in point, has anyone tried developing for the XBOX
360 without paying CRAZY licensing fees, and getting kicked in the
pants by Microsoft?
"This weekend there were two pieces of news which may have a profound
impact on virtual worlds and which may force designers to choose
between Windows and non-Windows platforms."
Nope, nothing "profound" by the acquisition. Sure, it's good for
Microsoft, and bad for the rest of the world, but it really won't have
that much affect on the open source community. Microsoft will attempt
to shove some standards down people's throats (just like their
"Silverlight" technology). But until it's a "cross platform" and open
source technology (that isn't controlled by Microsoft) then the
technology will just die.
Look at what a terrible browser Internet Explorer is. It doesn't even
follow or abide by basic standards. You need to use something like
Mozilla, or Opera, just so you have a decent "cross platform" web
browser that works correctly (and works across multiple platforms and
displays pages correctly). Microsoft is non-compliant, and they "do
not play well" with others.
I personally won't "drink the cool aid" and go chase any Microsoft
technologies when I see better techologies floating around in the Open
Source arena. I'm sure that many in the science/academic/research
community will agree.
We do need to stay Open-sourced, cross-platform, and have custom
tailored browsers (for various platforms, devices, and also specific
applications such as high-end gaming, or social networking, or even
teaching).
Kirstenlee did a great job with the R15, and hopefully she'll continue
to contribute and help the open-source community with her great work!
> In any case, tailored viewers for different scenarios would be great.
> For example simple web-based viewers, mobile phones, lightweight 3d
> and why not console based as well, maybe simply a way to use the text
> chat through IRC or something, all these things would expand the
> functionality and usefulness of our application.
I completely agree!
Mark
On Aug 1, 2:47 am, "Antti Ilomäki" <[email protected]> wrote:
> You're absolutely correct. What we're going to need is different ways
> of interacting with the virtual worlds and managing the social
> contacts. Starting a full-blown whiz-bang 3D-viewer isn't the optimal
> solution in many cases. Having tailored clients for simpler
> interactions will increase the value of the "3D Internet" immensely.
> It's important to tie in existing communications forms such as email,
> but we're also going to need new tools for managing communications
> between realXtend users. This is actually something that's very
> interesting to us (and especially me) and we're hopefully going to
> start working on something in the near future.
>
> In any case, tailored viewers for different scenarios would be great.
> For example simple web-based viewers, mobile phones, lightweight 3d
> and why not console based as well, maybe simply a way to use the text
> chat through IRC or something, all these things would expand the
> functionality and usefulness of our application.
>
> 2008/7/28 dan miller <[email protected]>:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I think it's critical to keep in mind the distinction between the
> > capabilities of the client/viewer software, and the meaning of the protocol
> > itself (ie, what information the client and server share).
>
> > Just like the web, it is imperative not to assume that one set of client
> > capabilities fits all use cases. While a big honking PC running the latest
> > NVidia drivers and the latest Windows may work nicely, you should also be
> > able to log on and interact over an iPhone, or even a less capable device.
> > Meaning, a stock Ubuntu install on an old machine should work as well, with
> > visualization somewhere between the honking gamer's box and the mobile
> > phone with the 3" screen.
>
> > So to bring up a concrete example: I have been running the SL viewer on my
> > Ubuntu machine. Of course I don't get silverlight; but frankly I don't
> > care. I'm logging on for social interaction reasons, and whether or not
> > the clouds are hyper-realistic just isn't that important to me. The
> > problem is, my Unix build is unstable; it crashes frequently. When I
> > complain about this on irc, I get the RIDICULOUS comment that it's crashing
> > because my machine is underpowered. To quote the Sex Pistols, Bollocks.
> > There is no conceivable reason that the viewer should be any less stable
> > because it has downgraded graphics capabilities. This is simply a matter
> > of sloppy programming and lack of testing, not some intrinsic requirement
> > that the client be uber-graphically aware.
>
> > To sort of push this point to the max, I have been tempted to write a
> > console-based SL viewer, using full-screen text rendering to show a
> > top-down view of the space. Each avatar would be represented by a
> > different character, and an irc-style chat area would run on the lower part
> > of the screen. That might be all I need for about 90% of my SL/opensim
> > visits. YMMV
>
> > -danx0r- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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