Second Life CEO Philip Rosedale Stepping Down

[Fleep Tuque]

Obviously big news for residents of Second Life, any guesses about who will replace him or what impact this will have on the world?

[Dave Elchoness]

He will be replaced by an anonymous non-human avatar. Don't know exactly which one though.

[David Wisotzky]

I have no clue personally but I am sure that Second Life will continue to thrive. I am sure that he stepped down with only the best intentions for SL. Personally I could never get passed waiting for the client to download. :)

[Goose]

Well any company that is either taking it to the next level or.... falling apart changes the CEO position

I am betting they are staging themselves for the next level, I don't think this is a negative at all, and the guy probably needed a break. lol

Lol @ Dave-- yes a CEObot! That would be appropriate, with the Alice AI engine running its dialogue! And Freely morphing into the ideal sex, shape and textures depending on the interests and likes of whom it is engaged with!
Yea! oh wait that would be Escortbot! nvm!

[Jay Swartz]

Joe Miller gets my vote; he's a pro and VP of Ops, so knows the issues.

[Jay Swartz]

Editorial Comment; I'm sure the board gave him a deadline to turn things around as far as stability goes and his first step was to dump his CTO who clearly has no clue about large scale multiuser systems. When the signup rate flattened and the problems failed to clear up Phillip's time limit expired and had to go. VCs don't have much tolerance for poor management particularly when it risks their investment. The competition is moving fast and if SL doesn't get stable, fast, they're going the way of Lotus 1-2-3 (pun intended).

[Phaylen]

I was shocked to discover the news today. For those of us resident who have been arond since alpha/early beta phase, it was not uncommon to sit alongside Phil and discuss the future of this brainchild. He is an amazing individual, but I think history has proven that he knows exactly what he is doing. Wether this is an indication of troubles, or a step into the next generation of Second life remains to be seen. He has said that he intends to remain active with Second life, just in the capacity of Chairman of the Board. It's just sort of a double whammy. First Corey leaves, and then Phil changes poitions.

Ah, well. He'll still be the hottest chair at the table.

[SuezanneCB-SuezanneC-Baskerville]

Maybe Philip will get to spend some time inworld having fun.

I don't recall how old he is, but he should probably be thinking about doing everrthing he wants to do that is best done with a reasonably unwrinkled face, a full head of hair, and pre-presbyopic eyes.

I haven't the slight idea who might become CEO. This announcement took me by surprise. I spend a large amount of time reading about virtual worlds, so if I should have known about this from reading then I'm reading the wrong places.

I have a suspicion that having a sterner, bossier guy in charge won't magically enable Second Lifre to start working better.

[Wayne Porter]

Second Life's hurdles

- ROI

- Immersion

- Scale

- Poor GUI (better)

- Complex issues- social, etc

- Bad strategies- like rewarding camping.

Some of these are very solvable...but when the visionary gets put on the board...it is because of the money...imho

regards,
Wayne

[ChickaFlicka]

Oh heck, another job opportunity I missed applying for. No one will let me take over the VW...:::sigh::::

[Gianna Borgnine]

I think stepping down for whatever reason was the best and right thing to do. It should have happened awhile ago. If SL is going to survive it needs a lot of work. With the RIGHT choice as a replacement I believe much good can come from this change. Having said that, as far as a replacement... I would love to see someone external with a good deal of experience, but knowing the Linden's and the way they have operated in the past, it might also possibly be internal. In that case, my guess leans towards Gene Yoon aka Ginsu Yoon aka Ginsu Linden.

[Damen Gorilla]

Quite possibly a precursor to an IPO in mid 2009?