Computers Will Entertain Us to Death
Skyrim was released this winter, and players have already invested millions of hours in it’s single-player Nordic countryside. World of Warcraft boasts millions of years logged on it’s massively-multiplayer world of Azeroth. The human experience would claim billions of lifetimes spent in its omni-player reality, if it were to make a comparative claim on its marketing material.
How soon until we spend not hours but entire lifetimes elsewhere?
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In case you didn't notice, it's already happening. From a comment on Hacker News:
If you can plug in, feed yourself some poptarts and hydrate every 8 hours, and otherwise float in limbo being someone you love more than your real self, we're going to see entire classes of people disappear, just like my WoW friends that I'll probably never chat with again.
