Another Life?

I'm going to put this out there - I don't buy the hype. It's not that I don't understand how these virtual reality worlds work, and I assume that the more businesses are exposed to them and the more time they exist, the more monetization there will be through them. But just the overall concept itself, I just can't get behind it.

Who has so much free time in their reality life that they can build a whole virtual life as well? It seems to me that the article exposed a real truth, in that the general population in these virtual reality worlds are techsters, and of specific note: generally a younger generation. Like disposable income, the younger age group also seems to have disposable time.

Similar to the boom of products and advertising aimed at younger and younger target markets, due to an increase in their disposable income, I can see the virtual realm become targeted directly at the younger age group. And it makes sense that monetization, in much the same way that it currently exists, be expanded. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of products bridge the gap between the virtual and the real world and fit the target audience. My first thought: Digital music and video.