Second Life launched as an innovative online world a couple of years ago. As CNET News Blog reports, the hype part of the cycle really picked up steam "when the media noticed that a lot of big-name companies were opening up shop in Second Life."

With every over-hyped technology comes a resultant backlash, as folks begin to wonder if those companies ever got anything out of the virtual world. "Many are asking the question of whether the hype was warranted, and vice versa, whether the backlash is fair," the article said. Now, a recent Yankee Group report said that the "hype surrounding Second Life doesn't match its actual marketplace impact."

Sure, Second Life is a royal pain to use at times, with excess server lag and crashes. But here's the money quote from the CNET News story: "[The Yankee Group] declared that one of the major bottlenecks for Second Life is that it is too 'PC-centric,' particularly in an 'increasingly mobile world.' The theory here is that Second Life, and presumably other virtual worlds and social-networking sites, won't grow to true relevancy unless they can get off the PC and onto mobile devices."

This makes sense, especially in light of recent mobile social networking initiatives, particularly those that support physical presence detection.

Yankee Group: 'Second Life' doesn't live up to hype [CNET News Blog]