Dec 4, 2016
Only a couple subjects to cover tonight. Maybe a brief
"get off my lawn" rant on this new Virtual Reality thing.
First let me give you some rather bad news. Podiobooks.com
has been sold to a site called Scribl. Podiobooks is still
there. Sort of. The stuff I've already posted is still
on that site. So far.
Thing is, Scribl is all about _selling_ audio versions of
books. Podiobooks was about giving away audio versions of
books, and accepting donations, if any. There weren't many
donations, or at least I didn't see many. Lots of downloads
and listeners, not so much with the money.
So, Scribl the sellers of audiobooks, don't accept anything using
Creative Commons content. Can't sell something licensed for
only non-commercial use. And even if I decided my recordings
were not so licensed... I use Creative Commons licensed music and
sound effects. I'd have to pay for commercially usable music
to support the Public Domain books I record. And of course I
can't afford to do that.
Higher bitrates, that I could manage. A few minor technical
changes, maybe. Paying money I don't have for audio I don't
want to use just doesn't make sense for me.
So while I've been preparing both the books I've been recording for
posting to Podiobooks over the months I've been producing them... I
can no longer put them on Podiobooks, because Scribl sets the rules
there now, and I can't afford to fulfill their requirements.
The only place my recordings of these books will be available will
be on my own website. Which will be disappointing, because I
don't have the audience Podiobooks has had. And I won't be
able to do that final stage of posting Mike Hampston's book on
Podiobooks, either, because I don't have the right licensing on the
music I used to back those recordings, and I don't have the right
permissions from the author to put it there anyway. Not on a
commercial site like Scribl.
I suppose I might put the recordings on Librivox. The old
books like Everlasting Man would be fine there. Don't think I
can put Mike's book there. So all in all, after years of
work... that kinda sucks. I can understand Evo selling the
place. He's not obligated to keep it up just for someone like
me. But that kinda breaks my plans. And I don't know
what to do next.
And that other thing...
I've seen a lot of coverage of all the swell new-ish tech they
offer now for trying Virtual Reality. Got yer basic
wrap-around headsets, and special motion controllers and
whatnot. All very shiny, new and expensive. Tend to
require more powerful computers and more powerful graphic
cards. Also very shiny and new.
But once I thought that through, the tech is all that's new.
I've been playing around in a simulated three-dee environment for
several years now, Second Life. No wrap-around goggles, just
a keyboard and mouse to control interactions. But still, it's
a three-D environment, albeit rendered in two-D. To be fair,
sure the three-D effect is clever and new. The fancier
controllers are new. To make all that work you'll need pretty
heavy-duty graphics capabilities. So does Second Life, but I
don't think the machine I use for SL could manage that. I'm
sure playing with the new hardware will be fun for a while.
And yet...
What'll happen in these new VR worlds, in a social sense, will not
be new. You'll start with the early adopters, and for a while
the only people there will be those people. Exclusivity has a
profound impact on the feel of any social environment, on computers
or otherwise. If you were there, you know that about every
previous social site, for as long as there have been
computers. But then, of course, the companies trying to make
money off all that will expand, and try to expand their
audience. Crowds of new folks will come. The builders
will come. And so will the griefers. The nice folks who
treat each other well will be there, for a while. And the bad
folks who treat others evilly will be there, too.
The new tech might allow new ways to interact and experience the
environment. That'll be swell. But the people will
still be people.
So I figure if you want to know how VR in virtual worlds, as
compared to 3D video shows from real life, will turn out... you'll
come to Second Life. The anonymity will most likely be the
same. The interactions without apparent consequences will be
the same. The loves will be the same, the hates will be the
same. People will be the same. Only the technology will
be different.
VR will be, they say, immersive. Second Life is immersive,
too. Takes some time to get used to. So will VR.
It would be entirely possible to upgrade the existing SL to work
somewhat with VR hardware. It might not work well, but it's
liable to be doable. And for that matter, however hard, it'd
likely be quicker and cheaper than building a whole new world from
scratch. Probably won't happen. But it could.
Anyway, if folks want to know what a real Virtual World, a real
Metaverse would be like in a social sense, well, we can show
you. Second Life started out as an experiment in exactly that
Metaverse like experience. Been there, done that, got the
virtual teeshirt.
Some of it is wonderful. Some of the people, in particular,
are wonderful. And some of it sucks. The sucky parts
suck disproportionally to the time and effort involved. I
suppose the same could be said for the wonderful parts.
I don't think saying any of that will change anyone's opinion of
SL. People who haven't been in SL, or been long enough to
actually settle in, have already set their expectations in stone
between their ears, and me talking here will probably not make a
damn bit of difference. I don't think much of anyone more
will come to SL to find out what VR will turn out to be.
But it's the truth. And if anyone is still interested in the
truth anymore, this would be a good place to come find some of that
particular truth. We have more than a decade of experience in
a laboratory for the beginnings of that same phenomenon. Some
of it will be new. Most of it will not.
Enjoy the magical new technology and hardware. But don't
expect magical changes to human nature. Given time, you'll be
in a place very much like here. And from my experience of
previous technological advances and changes, it'll probably be much
less than what we already have.
Good night. And good luck.
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I just found out about this myself, which lead me here. You and Nathan Lowell were the highlights of the site for my family, and you are a household name with us. I have you to thank for getting my wife interested in G.K. Chesterton.
Thank you for all the work you have done over the years, and we will keep listening on here so long as you keep the site up. I hope you can find a new platform - your voice deserves to be heard.
Hi, Colin from Scribl here. Just wanted to point out that Scribl and Podiobooks have been the same company for a couple of years now, we're just finally unifying the two sites to help authors more easily reach the biggest possible audience and to help authors make money from their work. There is actually a lot of free Creative Commons content that is fine to use on Scribl, as long is its license supports sales distribution. Not all Creative Commons content supports that, but a good portion of it does. We will continue to support all existing books that were on Podiobooks and to provide the same podcasting, free serial audiobook option. There's good data that the free serialized podcast edition helps drive sales of the paid editions (both ebook and audiobook).
Hope that helps!
Fair enough.
Only recently heard about the change, though, not two years ago. Meanwhile I was recording many hours of two different audiobooks that now can't be put on Podiobooks.
One of those books I've been producing for a local author. And now those many hours of work can't be put where they were supposed to end up. My promises that this just might help promote the book - and I do know the Glory Days for that are past -- can't be kept.
So forgive me for making you feel bad with my disappointment and sadness. Doesn't seem likely to happen again.
Not Evo's fault, not Scribl's fault. Still sad.
Hi, Colin from Scribl here. Just wanted to point out that Scribl and Podiobooks have been the same company for a couple of years now, we're just finally unifying the two sites to help authors more easily reach the biggest possible audience and to help authors make money from their work. There is actually a lot of free Creative Commons content that is fine to use on Scribl, as long is its license supports sales distribution. Not all Creative Commons content supports that, but a good portion of it does. We will continue to support all existing books that were on Podiobooks and to provide the same podcasting, free serial audiobook option. There's good data that the free serialized podcast edition helps drive sales of the paid editions (both ebook and audiobook).
Hope that helps!