Print List Price: | $32.00 |
Kindle Price: | $19.00 Save $13.00 (41%) |
Sold by: | JOHN WILEY AND SONS INC Price set by seller. |
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Audible sample Sample
Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
An up-close account from the world’s first metaverse-embedded reporter
In Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For, the celebrated author of The Making of Second Life and Game Design Secrets, Wagner James Au, delivers an engrossing exploration of how nascent metaverse platforms have already captured the imagination of millions. Featuring powerful stories and dozens of incisive interviews with insiders including Metaverse creator Neal Stephenson himself, the author uses his unique, grassroots-level perspective as the first reporter embedded in a metaverse platform. Readers will learn about:
- How to understand and define the Metaverse and cut through the many myths and misconceptions around it.
- A behind-the-scenes account of launching Second Life, the first metaverse platform to achieve mainstream awareness, and what its many controversies teach us.
- Where current platforms Meta, Roblox, Fortnite, VRChat, and Lamina1, Neal Stephenson’s own metaverse startup, fit in the ecosystem.
- How to address the many dangers inherent in the Metaverse before it becomes central to the Internet.
Perfect for XR industry members and indie creatives, Making a Metaverse That Matters is also for tech professionals, virtual world communities, and anyone interested in the future of culture and commerce.
- ISBN-13978-1394155811
- Edition1st
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateMay 16, 2023
- LanguageEnglish
- File size11150 KB
Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
In Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to a Virtual World Worth Fighting For, author Wagner James Au, delivers a fascinating discussion of how growing Metaverse platforms have captured the imaginations of millions of people around the world. The book features powerful stories and dozens of insightful interviews with tech insiders―including the man who coined the phrase “Metaverse,” Neal Stephenson―and explores the author’s unique, grassroots-level perspective as the first reporter embedded directly in a Metaverse platform.
You’ll learn how to understand and define the Metaverse, cutting through the myths, hype, and misconceptions to uncover the truth about this group of powerful new technologies. You’ll also discover a behind-the-scenes account of the launching of Second Life, the world’s first Metaverse platform to achieve mainstream success, and what its controversies, successes, and failures can teach us as we move forward with new experiments.
Making a Metaverse That Matters examines the current state of contemporary Metaverse platforms, including Meta™, Roblox®, Fortnite®, VRChat®, and Lamina1™, and where they each fit into the overall technological ecosystem. It anticipates and addresses the dangers inherent in this fusion of software, hardware, culture, and technology, proposing solutions that can be implemented before the tech becomes a central part of the Internet.
An essential book for XR industry members and indie creatives, Making a Metaverse That Matters will also fascinate tech professionals, virtual world community members, and anyone interested in the future of culture and commerce.
From the Back Cover
Praise for MAKING A METAVERSE THAT MATTERS
“After two decades of writing about virtual worlds, James knows how to scythe through hype and misconceptions about the Metaverse, why it truly matters. I only wish Mark Zuckerberg could have read it before changing the name of his company.”
―Om Malik, veteran Silicon Valley writer & partner emeritus, True Ventures
“At the center of this book is an overlooked truth: We’re already living in the Metaverse. It also happens that Au is the perfect guide to help us understand the promise, peril, and genuine humanity of virtual worlds. Au’s lived experience, historical expertise, and deep reporting dispels myths, cuts through the hype and brings a hopeful digital future to life. If every tech executive read this book, I’d be much more optimistic about our online future.”
―Charlie Warzel, staff writer, The Atlantic
“A deeply-reported approach to an often-misunderstood subject, James tells the story of the Metaverse’s evolution from the perspective of someone involved in its development since 2003 ― while also connecting it to the broader creator economy that’s currently transforming all media. Woven with fascinating and surprisingly moving stories of the people who make metaverse platforms thrive, from a Jamaican woman in her 20s to a blues guitarist in his 80s, Making a Metaverse That Matters makes the case that it’s the community, not the technology, that ultimately matters most.”
―Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online
“Making a Metaverse That Matters is an authoritative and thoughtful look at the Metaverse from an expert who’s been a daily reporter from the Metaverse for years. Going far past the hype, this book probes decades of history, documents both the corporate and cultural machinations that have shaped our view of the Metaverse, and gives us a credible view of where it’s all headed when the hype fades into substance.”
―Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch, EFF board member, advisor to the Obama White House’s Office of Digital Strategy
About the Author
WAGNER JAMES AU is the author of The Making of Second Life (HarperCollins, 2008), based on his experiences as the first journalist officially embedded in a metaverse platform, and Game Design Secrets (Wiley, 2012). His writing about virtual worlds has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Polygon, among many other publications. His blog New World Notes (nwn.blogs.com) is the longest-running news site devoted to the Metaverse.
Product details
- ASIN : B0C5LV8RZR
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st edition (May 16, 2023)
- Publication date : May 16, 2023
- Language : English
- File size : 11150 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 359 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 1394155816
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,068 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #213 in Social Aspects of the Internet
- #664 in Internet Marketing
- #744 in Web Marketing (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Wagner James Au is the author of "Making a Metaverse That Matters" (Wiley, 2023), based on his 20 years working in the metaverse industry, starting as the first journalist officially embedded inside a virtual world. His blog New World Notes (nwn.blogs.com), launched in 2006, is the longest-running site devoted to Metaverse news and culture.
James is also author of "The Making of Second Life" (HarperCollins, 2008) and "Game Design Secrets" (Wiley, 2012). His writing about virtual worlds has been featured in The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and Wired, among many other publications, and he’s consulted on metaverse-related projects for Linden Lab and Samsung, among many other companies.
He lives in Los Angeles.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
At its heart, it's a history book; one of the few really decent ones--maybe the _only_ decent one that tells the story of how the idea of the metaverse emerged. As a resident in Second Life for 17 years at this writing, I can say with some authority, that along with many other stories from the metaverse, it’s awell told (and accurate) recounting of the history of Linden Lab & Second Life. But I can also say it has terrific insights into several recent interpretations of the idea including Fortnite, and the nascent Horizons effort from Meta (now likely to be strangled in its cradle).
In addition to insights about the stumbles of the past and present, the author presents sage wisdom on what the metaverse will need to bring the idea to life and why it’s important that the metaverse be allowed and encouraged to exist.
I loved everything about the approach taken and the topical and analytical breadth of this book.
Just as an aside, the reportage and characterisation of the trans community in SL is IMO fair, dispassionate, and non judgmental and comes at a time when so much heat, emotion, and outright hatred dominates politics, the popular press, and social media, this author's balance made me feel as if I could breathe again. As a part of that community, I was surprised but grateful for the factual coverage
As a Second Life resident and member of creative community responsible for all that residents see, experience, use and enjoy in the original incarnation of the user created metaverse the for almost 2 decades, I must share how much I appreciated and was delighted by the anecdotes, behind the scenes stories and insights that only the author in the unique role of the metaverse's first (and still only) embedded reporter could have collected into this fine volume. Finally, I must share that the author's New World Notes blog as been a constant companion and 'must read' for me for longer than I can remember
I loved reading about technology aspects of VRChat, the Second Life 20+ year journey, and Roblox growth nuances.
Other parts of the book that stood out to me:
- Diverse perspectives from colleagues.
- Debunking of common metaverse myths.
- A cautionary blueprint for the future.
- Research and findings of VR nausea.
- The "Interoperability of Community".
- Invaluable insights in the final chapter.
It is a exemplary contribution to the understanding and advancement of the metaverse landscape.
All of us use the metaverse to connect. For some, it might just be Facebook. Even Linkedin has evolved with the demise of Twitter. Despite our divisions and culture wars. the pandemic taught us about the need for human connection. This book is a step towards taking personal control of the platforms that we each use. We need to make a metaverse that "matters" to our generation and to those that follow.
(I'll change the stars when I've read it all).
Top reviews from other countries
Please read it, it will change your perspective on Metaverse forever !