In a stark contrast to the usual topic of this blog, I’d like to talk about the real world for one moment. Humour me, there is a point to this.
So, it’s Wednesday. I strolled into work this morning at the crack of noon, about twenty minutes ago at time of writing. Jon was already at his desk, and I strolled into the office which was filled with some electro-rock playing over the office sound system.
“Anyone else in?” I asked, meekly. “Nah, I think most of the guys are working from home today”.
Since I am working on a new project with my employers, I enquired as to the whereabouts of my boss, Tim. He is in scotland, apparently, at some concert.
Many readers of this blog know where I work, but for those who don’t, I work as a programmer for an online virtualisation/media/production company. Do I work in the most unproductive workplace in Britain?
If productivity means hours worked, then surely I do. However, you simply can’t apply traditional values to this workplace.
This company produces some of the most innovative and inspiring content available. We meet deadlines, we churn out high quality stuff.
What’s missing, however, is the process. The beurocracy, paperwork, pen pushing, the lack of inter-departmental communication, the structure that a lot of corporations assume which I refer to as “overly organised”.
The fact is, If you have a bunch of people together who enjoy what they do, and are passionate about their work, they will produce. The more restrictions and requirements imposed on them, the less productive they will be. Google realise this. We’ll see over the coming years just how many businesses are willing to accept progress, no matter how disguised such progress may be.
And of course, speaking of progress, I cannot avoid commenting on a discussion which has been plaguing the second life developers mailing list recently:
I was discussing the possibility of a 3D video card with a dedicated, isolated memory space and a public/private key DRM model. Textures would be sent from the grid to the client in a pre-encrypted form, stored in this encrypted state in the client cache, and only decoded inside the protected memory space of the 3D card. By pairing this with HDCP this would create a secured digital pathway for assets to be reasonably protected from theft. - Dale Mahalko
This may seem like technobabble to many, so I will try to explain. This gentleman is discussing 3D hardware with copy protection, making it difficult (never… NEVER impossible) to “rip” textures and other content from second life, and of course similar environments.
If this sounds like a good idea to you, then I would really encourage you to post a reply to this post, explaining why. To me, it’s a prime example of a potentially innovative person / organisation clinging to age old concepts which simply hold no value in this environment.
Let me reiterate boys and girls. Business is changing. In the real world, and in the virtual worlds. What was a product is becoming a service. A smart businessman in Second Life will adapt, innovate. Push the technology to the limits.
Someone spoke to words of wisdom to me recently - forgive me, I forget who.. “When the winds of change are blowing, some people are building shelters and others are building windmills.”
The MPAA and the RIAA are fine examples of shelter-builders in this chinese proverb. Universal music could have launched a subscription service, giving an unlimited number of high quality DRM-free tracks. This could have not only have saved their industy, but also given them a way of actually competing directly with the other labels in the consumer marketplace for the first time. They didn’t - and now they’re moaning to the media about profit drops. Check out the track “Download this song” by MC Lars. You can buy a genuinely CD quality copy-protection free copy here.
I’ll stop rambling now. I hope I have given some folks reading my blog some food for thought. I’d appreciate any comments you guys have.
~Felixe
