Within ten years, virtual worlds will be bigger than the Web itself. So says Philip Rosedale

My $.02 is that there will always be a place for legacy web applications (for the more simple everyday functions that do not require interaction etc.). But when it comes to collaborative environments - like virtual meetings (think goto meeting), virtual classes (think Blackboard) its pretty clear that in time the 2D variety just will not provide the user experience users will expect. So my hunch is those services are looking very hard at ways to add the 3D virtual environment method to their business models (if they want to stick around that is)..... And with the emerging technologies like Croquet (http://www.croquetconsortium.org), OpenSim, and the possibility of the Secondlife grid server becoming opensource the writing may already be on the wall for them.

As for Philip Rosedale's complete remarks on the future of virtual environments - check them out here:

http://deepthought.newsvine.com/_news/2007/08/02/873205-second-life...