Google steps towards virtual operating systems with Lively

Yesterday’s post on GigaOm softly berates Google for releasing “the virtual world version of Google Video,” with Lively, which is essentially a series of interconnected virtual chatrooms.

“Why,” asks Wagner James Au, “would a search engine company create a virtual world in the first place?”

I have a few ideas. I’m not the first to suggest that virtual worlds are a platform to rival an OS, and everyone knows that Google is trying to be the online platform going forward.

It’s also not too much of a stretch to imagine accessing the internet as some kind of virtual world—walk down internet highway and step into the Lego.com store, or stop at the Seattle P-I news stand.

I think virtual worlds is a perfectly valid extension for a company that aims to be the dashboard to the internet. People are already starting to play with 3D web browsing, and for some in the newer generation, I’m sure that directing an avatar around a virtual construction of the internet will feel more natural than our current “command line” approach to browsing.

Welcome to our community! If you like what you see, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed!