Second Life Founder On the Future of Technology

Philip Rosedale, co-founder of Second Life, knows what he's talking about when it comes to technology. His successful creation provides a virtual canvas on which users play out their fantasy lives, companies exhibit real-life products and even conduct recruiting and training exercises. Rosedale is particularly pleased with how creative consumers develop innovations like 'virtual wind' - subtle yet exciting creations.

But Rosedale thinks that in a way the world is still using only 20% of its brain. There is untapped potential in the developing world and involving it in the process of innovation is critical to the future of technology.

Rosedale has been investing a lot of thought on the future of energy generation. He talks about how solar panels are empowering us to generate individual power supplies in a cost effective manner. He envisions decentralized grids to produce electricity in a distributed and autonomous manner.

But maybe Rosedable is just getting excited about a tenuous analogy between grids in Second Life and grids in the global energy supply. Solar power is really only cost effective in certain locations, otherwise the capital costs associated with generating power don't appear to be dwindling any time soon.