Socially|Mundane

Possibly. The "as we know it" has to do with the way we know it. The viewer interface...among other things. The biggest thing I can't stand about Microsoft Windows is how Microsoft keeps thinking it screwed it up last time, so they reinvent the whole damned interface for the next time. It's frustrating as hell.

Prokofy Neva brought this whole Big Spaceship thing to my attention. Not personally, but through Second Thoughts.

Well, now the Lindens have officially announce it. It's still a pretty big deal to linden Lab to get that first-user retention up. It's currently something to the effect of one in ten. On a good day.

Prok mentioned, well... surmised that the interface to the trusty old Linden Lab officially viewer will be redesigned. Dumbed-down. Made idiot-friendly.

Okay, fair enough. But what about the current User Interface on the Current viewer (as of this writing) - will that still be available at all?

I certainly hope so. Though who knows. The Second Life blog says...

Transforming the Second Life Experience « Official Second Life Blog: "Q: What is Big Spaceship doing for Second Life?
A: Big Spaceship will be working with internal teams at Linden Lab to research, design, prototype and test web sites and user interfaces that dramatically lower the learning curve for experiencing Second Life. Big Spaceship will employ a user-centered design methodology to develop innovative solutions for streamlining the complexity of Second Life without limiting the freedom and expressiveness that makes Second Life so powerful for so many people."

(Emphasis is mine.)

So, expect new interface designs to come flying out. Hopefully, they won't reduce everyone to the lowest common denominator: the newbie who knows nothing at all.
courtesy of Official Second Life Blog