More signs of WoW culture

The Sydney Morning Herald is picking up a story written by the New York Times, that compares World of Warcraft to Star Trek in terms of cultural impact. wow.

I think WoW is fundamentally different to Star Trek, in terms of fan culture. For one, WoW is more about team and character building than it is about collectables and idolisation. As with all computer systems however, the fundamental problem is that most people have to sit at a computer to take part. What if WoW could enrich going to the shop, or going to school? I'm not talking about home schooling here - I'm talking about transfer of culture. We all use social networking websites, they add a rich layer of communication to the social networks we have in the physical world. Why can't games like WoW add a rich layer to our physical lives too? Why can't we benefit more from the things gained in games?

EDIT: Maybe telectroscopes can be used to connect the physical and game world.

"When the sun illuminated the lens of the Telectroscope next to the Thames, it was, of course, still nighttime in New York. So the screen inside the scope broadcast back only an empty sidewalk silently framed by the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.

But then something miraculous occurred.

A police officer and a street cleaner walked into the frame. Stopped. And waved."

EDIT: This youTube clip shows that you can play virtual soccer without sitting at a console. Maybe you can play WoW similarly without sitting at a console...



EDIT: Other directions for enriching reality with digitality include the new IPhone, and CitySense. The IPhone incorporates a good interface, can sense which way you're pointing it, has GPS, fast internet and an ever-increasing amount of grunt for games. Most of all, like the IPod it will probably attract the whole range of community. CitySense takes that platform to another level, effectively turning real life activities of the mobile phone toting masses into an intelligent "discovery application" capable of leading us to what we want to do, rather than where we want to go.


Blackberries tell us things [DMNews]
IPhones are only going to get more awesome [BusinessWeek]
Telectroscopes: telescopes through the world [CNN]
How some guy kicked the WoW habit [SMH]