All features are equal, but some are more equal than others

This weeks town meeting did and didn't give residents a roadmap to the future of SL. Although some projects 'in development' were listed, the timetable given was 'when they're done'. Essentially, Linden Labs indicated they will release new versions whenever new features are ready.

We see this new mindset in the 1.8 previews. The two new features: P2P teleport and rippling water, also known as an 800 pound gorilla and its trusty sidekick. There is something very egalitarian about this notion that a feature is a feature is a feature. However, it ignores the impact some changes have on SL culture and economics.

Rippling water is pretty and technically impressive but, all in all, doesn't really change how people behave in world. Point to point teleportation and the accompanying end of the telehub, on the other hand, will alter how people live their second lives. Maybe because, in the real world, big changes happen slowly 99% of the time, we expect the same in SL. Now that LL has laid out the features under development, at least we won't be able to say we didn't see them coming.