Holy Metaverse Batman! IBM Will Spend $100 Million on Virtual Reality

Holy metaverse batman! IBM is about to drop $100 million in Second Life and other projects related to 3D virtual worlds according to BusinessWeek (sub required). Reuters reports the amount as $10 million. [Lead paragraph clarified on 11/11]

Big Blue is setting up a new organization to pursue the huge opportunity not only of providing the software, computers and chips that power 3-D worlds; but also in advising clients on how to take advantage of them to market or sell products.

IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano's avatar will become the first Fortune 10 CEO to appear in SL when he takes the stage in a virtual version of China's Forbidden City on Nov. 14 tto address IBMers.

I think you're off by a factor of 10.

I think you've added an extra digit there.. Reuters reports $10 million, not $100 million. Still, it's quite significant.

Businessweek says $100 million in the current issue: "All told, Big Blue plans to spend $100 million on these projects." Maybe Reuters dropped a zero. :>)

here's the whole paragraph.

" This isn't all fun and games. IBM foresees a sizable business in providing the software, computers, and chips that power 3-D worlds, and in advising clients on how to take advantage of them to market or sell products. At a real-life town hall meeting for 8,000 employees in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Palmisano will announce just before his virtual escapade that IBM is setting up a new organization to pursue the business. It's one of a handful of initiatives he'll lay out that emerged from an online "innovation jam" the company held for worldwide employees and business partners in September. All told, Big Blue plans to spend $100 million on these projects.