If you're one of the only few billion people out of the 6 billion plus on the planet that hasn't yet tried the Les Paul doodle (as they are called) on Google, you can still try it because it now has a permanent home.
(In fact, I shouldn't say "now," because all Google doodles are archived in one long list when their "day" passes, so I don't know why the tech press was panicking everyone telling them they "only" had 14 more hours, etc. To be sure, Google itself left the doodle up for several days running on the home page making people think it "wouldn't last".)
If you type "Les Paul doodle" into Google search, you will see the zillions of articles on this hugely viral meme.
If you're like me, the first time you saw the guitar, you realized it might be interactive from past experience with Google doodles (like the World's Fair one that had a magnifying glass that enlarged elements of the picture as you dragged over it), and you might have plucked the strings and seen them vibrate. Then, you might, as a synethesiac (like me) noticed that they had the strings turn colours as they played. Then, perhaps on day two, if you are a slow learner, because you saw the "record" button that didn't make sense at first, you'd realize, hey, maybe there's sound on this thing! And then you might finally put on your headphones and pluck the strings and play a tune -- if you could manage. Then there was still the record button to figure out. Why?
Then you'd realize that oh, it records whatever you play -- so you could try typing words in and they'd become tunes. In fact, I thought that *was* the purpose, to make notes out of words like synesthesia, but instead, it was merely to enable you to play notes and keep the string of keyboard strokes/letters in a "record," that you could get a unique URL to, and then play back later to your friends. So naturally, lots of people appeared with "Stairway to Heaven" and "Mary had a little lamb," etc. And the tech press wrote the jillions of articles about it, with some metrics company even finding out that 5.3 million human hours have already been consumed on this thing.
Now what does this remind you of, eh?
The first time I figured it out (by day two, I'm slow) I said in a tweet, 'Oh, Google made a virtual world!"
Well it doesn't quite fit *my* definition of a virtual world, in that it must have two elements 1) a sense of place 2) drama. The Les Paul doodle has neither. It could acquire it, however -- pop it on shared media into Second Life on a sim, gather around it, and soon you could have arguments, people could fall in love, there could be a war over the tier or the admission price if the traffic pours in -- it's not hard to manufacture drama in SL, you just have to show up.
How is it that millions of people will spend all day at their jobs wasting time plucking a guitar string and playing "Mary had a little lamb" back to themselves, yet they scorn and turn up their noses at Second Life?
That's what we have to figure out.
In Second Life, you can not only pluck on a guitar, you can do it with other people playing other instruments and make a band. To be sure the "record" part is not as automatic (you used to be able to press "record" for a sort of fraps like movie in SL that at least recorded the brute machinima, but no more), and I find trying to record SL actually to be a hellish enterprise. (Machinimists always make this seem easy. It isn't. There isn't anything that you can easily install and just click a button to record everything as you can with World of Warcraft. Various programs that do this don't seem to get the screen size right for SL or have other problems I've found. If you know if a dirt-simple, truly not complicated free program that does this, or even one for $21.95, let me know.)
But after all, once you gather with real people in a real place where you can all sound your note, shouldn't it be utterly compelling? So why isn't it?
I have a room of musical instruments like this in the Moth Temple orientation sim. They each have 6 pre-recorded riffs on them, sort of salsa type music. You can then sit at the guitar or the drums and all play the same numbered riffs, or mix and match. Strangers landing in SL will come in this room and sit and play these for long periods. People like musical instruments that are easy for them to play -- that's why those group elf drum sets are such a hit. I also have another room at the Moth Temple location that has oil drums set up with tunes as well. Both these rooms get a fair amount of use, and yet I sometimes find it empty because I think the fear of performing with other people in public is HUGE, even if you are an anonymous avatar and the instruments can essentially play themselves by just a click.
Those that overcome those ancient ingrained fears have a good time when they realize that playing all those drums and the guitar is cool and makes you feel like a rock star.
Of course, we have something even better in SL, which is live music with real people playing real music, even original music on real instruments. You even get two different people in two different places playing online together (Beth Odets the fiddle player has tried this -- I do realize that it's kind of difficult because the time syncing can't always work, the server and the packets and whatnot mean that people can't play together in time and in tune, but they can try.) Jaycatt and Frogg are in the same house in RL, playing over the same server, so their avatars can sound together in SL.
I will never forget the first time I went to hear Frogg & Jaycatt -- it was in Iris, too, by the Moth Temple. There was a club on the open water where they used to play there. Frogg played "If Wishes Were Horses" which is my absolute favourite song of his ("Time doesn't pass even tho time goes by"). And it was absolutely thrilling to hear Frogg's real voice, greeting my avatar and saying "Hi, Prokofy" as I landed -- I think half the fun of live music for people isn't even so much listening to the music, which is of course great, or even typing to your friends in the same club, which you can do without interrupting the music, which is better than real life, but the way in which the musicians greet you and talk to you and thank you for tipping, all things they don't do in real life in the same way. Those latter two things make the RL experience "better" in RL, even with the crashes and glitches or griefing that sometimes occur.
But again, why isn't my band room in Iris, or anybody else's, much less the real life folks playing music as compelling as the Les Paul Google doodle? They are, to a lot of us. Why aren't they to millions? Why isn't the amazing interactivity, and the ability to *change your environment* (which is what Philip Linden always highlighted as the heart and soul of Second Life) more compelling to more millions? They should be!
Well, some people would say that it's because it's "in the browser". I completely reject that idea. The dirty little secret of browser-based VWs is that they constantly have to be loading each time you go to a room or place, so seriously, you just pick up the load time -- worse than the time of teleporting or rezzing in many cases -- at another place in the equation, even if you delete it off the front end of the original user experience. I'm not fooled by that.
Others would say it is "easy". Clicking on the Les Paul device is obviously easier than loading up and going into SL and finding that place with a guitar to click on. (Those three steps -- load, go, find -- are all points in the equation where you lose people).
But let's pretend that you could click and land in SL in front of a playing guitar just as fast and easy as you can land on the Google doodle page (shouldn't they call these "goodles" or something? -- try saying those two words really fast.)
Even if you could land and click on the Les Paul guitar in SL, you might not do it for hours, and that won't be due to the issue of recording and playing the song -- that's the icing on the cake.
And I think the answer really is the "hell is other people -- real hell is other people online" problem. You feel stage fright in front of the other goofs watching, and they may not be kind.
In fact, I think what a lot of the attraction of social media is for people is that it is not in real time and they are not exposed. They can go on Facebook and interact in friends *but not in real time* unless they get on the IM. They can post a comment or put up a picture asynchronously, with that pause that refreshses, from the strain of real-time interaction. Twitter isn't real-time either, of course. I think people want that lag in socializing, and Second Life doesn't give it to them. It's real-time squared. In fact, I think the reason a lot of people "play SL alone" and spend hours on end exploring or doodling by themselves on their sims making stuff is because they just have more fun playing it that way without the strain of other people. Remember the people on T.S. Eliot's train: "The faces relax from grief into relief.")
One of the things I have at the Ross Memory Bazaar site is several rooms with doors or curtains that people can go into in order to "change" because I find some people find standing out in the open struggling to change an avatar that may become naked or have something ugly on it to be an unbearable experience.
And some people just like to go into enclosed spaces to think or feel alone, even though of course, they aren't really, online, where anyone can come and cam in or whatever.
Even so, the fiction of privacy in SL holds pretty well -- people request locked doors by the tens of thousands because even if anyone can sit through them who has learned the hack, they're at least a small layer. And people make houses that could easily be cammed into because most people don't and it still gives them that feeling.
I think the worlds that have your avatar first on a web page where you can dress it and even go through animations in peace, before having to appear "on stage" might work better. Eve on Line, Small Worlds, some of the other ones do that for you.
I remember once a girl only a few minutes old hissed at me when I found her turning around in Ross. "Get out of my house!" she snarled. "Get out!". She thought she had been put in a lavish mideastern bazaar with baths and dining rooms and palaces just for her own personal benefit LOL. She kept persisting in this illusion and sense of entitlement until I could finally persuade her that she had landed in a public place and couldn't expect the rest of us to leave.
I just wonder if you would have more retention if more people could land in a private space immediately (Kaneva has you do that) and fix up your avatar and get your act together and test chat and anims, before you go out in public). The fear of the marketplace (agorophobia) and other people (whatever that Greek word is) sure sticks hard in SL.
Of course, landing in those awful infohubs and welcome areas are known horrors and I can only repeat what I've said before, wouldn't it be great if people could land immediately in your own house or building you supplied the URL to in an invitation. So on Twitter, I type "Join me for a discussion on the Middle East," and people click on the SLURL and join SL and land *right in my living room or conference room* instead of all the other crap.
But the idea of private rooms as you land is even more compelling. I'm absolutely convinced that the reason people can spend millions of hours on the Les Paul doodle is that first they get to practice and food around *alone, by themselves*. (Facebook lets you do that too essentially). THEN you get to tape and share your opus. Later. After you've overcome that ancient fear of performance, so to speak.
So the "in the browser" and the "fast and easy" stuff are all important, but I continue to think that the real retention-buster is the fear of the public place and other people, especially regarding the first outfit (even when already chosen) or the first actions (like an animation or speech). Somehow, the comfort level must be raised on these things.
BTW, I began researching this Les Paul doodle today by trying to find the technology involved. I assume it's just flash or java or something. But is it more? Is this HTML5? Or what? And is Google making a virtual world in pieces?
it would be nice to have the privacy to start off with. some people like being mentored, and some people like me find it patronizing and smothering. when i joined, they had welcome island or something, i don't remember, i had to personalize my avatar, find the torch (i remember searching for it all over the island frustrated that it was in MY library, not a library on the island), learn to drive, etc. some people helped each other, i just avoided all that, being a loner who figured out everything on the sims 2 alone, i figured i could manage learning sl on my own too, and i did.
a relatively easy point and shoot machinima program i've seen is jing pro for $14.95 http://www.techsmith.com/jing/pro/
it's the baby brother to camtasia, (it's what all those torley tutorials use) but much more expensive ($300 or so) you basically put sl in a window, tell jing pro to record that area, and then let it do it's thing and share the file on vimeo or whatnot. it only records about 5 minutes of video. might be worth looking into. :)
Posted by: Cinder Roxley | June 11, 2011 at 02:33 PM
> BTW, I began researching this Les
> Paul doodle today by trying to
> find the technology involved. I
> assume it's just flash or java or
> something. But is it more? Is this
> HTML5? Or what?
It's a mixture. It uses Flash to play the sounds, will use HTML5 if the user's browser can display it to show the guitar strings, and Javascript to tie everything together.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/doodle-for-instrumental-inventor.html
> And is Google making a virtual
> world in pieces?
They tried and failed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Lively
Posted by: Lum Lumley | June 11, 2011 at 07:20 PM
well Lum, duh, I know, I was on Lively, and it was kind of a bust. They didn't have user generated content. It was annoying. And I still think they will come to it anyway. Eventually when the whole web is 3-d and interactive you'll realize oops there is an entire Metaverse and Google owns it because they own the search.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | June 11, 2011 at 09:11 PM
flash things you can interact with have been around for decades. I don't consider Google's effort original or innovative, it's just a bit of fun.
I would think the reason people like it and not SL would be self-evident.
One you go to google.com and there it is, you click it.
the other you have to go download a client, sign up for an account, design your avatar, build or buy an instrument, (and if you buy, figure out how to get lindens), and then maybe, you can do nearly the same thing (though not really as SL sucks at delivering sound in sync unless you preload sounds etc etc).
SL has a 1000% steeper learning curve than a webpage doo-dad. So it's accesible to anyone really.
Same story as always.
Posted by: Darien Caldwell | June 11, 2011 at 09:55 PM
heres the deal...
its just "does"... no sign ins, no installs, no tutorials.., thats WHY its gotten to "millions"- that plus the viral nature of the networks and power of the google brand...
but why is it "cool".. because its a clean example of realtime virtuality.... and to many, still clicking on facebook words and picture buttons in html... its "new"..
its responsive and gets the imagination of the tech magic going with the "masses"
its actaully a copy of what "got my virtual lightbulb on" back in 1988..when i saw the "tape recorder" and music instruments drawn in the room in the "\manhole" an alice wonderland black and white multimedia piece done by the rand brothers who would go on to add color, and make MYST....
its another MYST moment, but this time on the "webpage" for most....
yes. realtime 3d and what sl offers folks like jaycatt etc. is much deeper and more satifying and sustainable.. but its still left in "viewer 2 crashes my system land"
or ..web3d isnt ready yet.. from google aor big brther speakers..who arent ready yet themselves to make bank on web3d...
macromedia 2000;)--
so thats it... were back to hypercard and the mac in 1988.. and clicking on pictures of dinosuars that make growling noises(jurrasic park -voyager diskette books-1987) now on ipads and in color with multifingers instead of a mouse....
its almost "revolutionary"...lol but thats only for steve jobs to say...again.
or the folks at connect.org
you should go and make noise at the panels...95 bucks... IF they let you get the discount..lol
Posted by: cube inada | June 11, 2011 at 11:26 PM
oh, i also suspect for millions beyond facebook flash like farmville or wingo... they are "huh" so what?...
and that this is mainly nothing more tha geeks( googleites) selling new tech to further make artists redux or loose everything... mainly html5.:)
gotta kill all that flash stuff that made money for creatives for the last decade, so that my college buddies can start angencies that sell html5 and whatver i sell to them.;)
i am so bored.
Posted by: cube inada | June 11, 2011 at 11:31 PM
I think for new people SL is like traveling: time-consuming, complicated, resource intensive, with the fear that you'll be lost in an environment where you might unwittingly become the butt of jokes through not knowing the lingo. The doodle is quick, private, and limited, with no risk.
Ages back LL had TV Linden, and offered a wee window into SL. I think that was ahead of its time and that now might be a better time to do it. LL has had loads of ideas to entice people, and might do well to revisit some of them.
Posted by: Osprey Therian | June 12, 2011 at 09:27 PM
Prok, this is a really clever analysis. Even though I haven't been a Linden in over a year, I still puzzle as a marketer over why people didn't "get" second life en masse, what is the psychological key to unlocking those doors for people?
Linden homes, in theory, was an attempt to provide that privacy you speak of....but even still one has to go through that landing in a public space first...which is why onboarding was tried privately first.
I don't know what all the answers are, clearly, but one thing I've always liked about you is that you made me think. Thanks for this thoughtful post.
Melinda/FKA Pink
Posted by: Melindabyerley | June 21, 2011 at 04:19 PM
Thanks for the nice comment. There are definitely psychological keys, and they aren't the same for everybody, but a killer as you must know is that entry -- the welcome areas are horrible and scare people away.
If someone gets a Linden Home on the first go -- and I can't believe there'd be that many of those -- why couldn't they teleport to it directly? It would be better for them to be alone with a pack of landmarks to better places than welcome areas, or in a sim where they might see other newbies, than what they get in those cess pools.
Those islands you land on with the paths to fall down and the head-banging buildings -- well, that's not workable.
Well, Pink, you seem like a smart cookie, and you have all kinds of educational and life experience credentials. So why is it that some of the top talent of the tech world, listed on TechCrunch and everything like that, can't beat the problems of SL? and you weren't the only one.
Yes, the user base is blameable for its amateur-hour approach (but that's the customer base and you have to embrace it); it's drama (the relationship with Linden Lab is part of that drama for such that keeps them enthralled); it's anti-commerce fetishes and over-magnanimous freebies. But the Lindens have founding fathers' syndrome too.
I think until more residents in the newbie briefing business are consulted from different constituencies, and there is more transparency about the retention problem so that people can put their minds to it as a public issue, it won't change.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | June 22, 2011 at 12:53 AM
Good questions Prokofy. I think I'll tackle them in a blog post on my own blog. there I'll have the space to think and format. I don't think I have even close to all the answers, but if I were to sum it all up, I think it's a classic "crossing the chasm" problem. To go mass market means to alienate and possibly even entirely lose the core user base and cash flow model, which takes time and money and carries significant risk to current established cash flows. It would take strong stomach and deep pockets and the board appears, in my opinion based on my experience a year ago, to have neither. Meanwhile the asset value, in my opinion, continues to decline while they hope and pray for a savior to help them find the easy way out. There is no easy way to this, though. Which is why I remain pessimistic about the company in its current state--and as hard as it may be for some people to believe--this has zero to do with the fact that I was let go. I come from the internet where companies are born and die every day--I am not locked into any of the romantic notions of a virtual world utopia. (For better or worse as I'm sure many of the community thought. :) )
Posted by: Melindabyerley | June 22, 2011 at 03:37 PM