My feeling on voice capabilities included in the SL client is this:

I, personally, don't like or want voice capabilities in the SL client, however I recognise that I am not *gasp* the centre of the universe.

I see how certain things would be enhanced: education, theatre, business meetings, and so forth.

I recognise that LL has to do this. My view of the 3d web of the future is that some things will be routinely done there as those things can be more easily done in VR. Say, a business meeting involving far-flung participants who need to speak, show graphics, use models, and so on. A team might build a prototype of something or other - say a building, or a train, or a chair. Those things are being done now, but I think they will routinely be done in the future.

Although anyone has always been able to use voice through separate programs like Ventrilo, LL is greasing the slope for organisations who need to be coaxed along before they understand. The separate programs have advantages to ordinary users (not limited to parcel, not liable to be subjected to griefing, not overheard); they don't have an advantage, really, to an organisation on its own island, where they want things simple and included in the box, and where they can limit access.

I think, to me, the best way this could happen is:
(mostly how LL has already decided it will happen)

"New" islands have the option
"Old" islands can opt in for a price
Mainland is voice-enabled but landowners can set their preference to "voice disabled"
There is an added cost for voice
Voice is used for things that it would be useful for - like stand-up comedy or singing
Voice is considered an intimate form of communication
Text is the general form of communication

Just as SL society considers leaving stray prims around bad form, our SL society should weigh in on this and decide how text/voice will be regarded. A lot depends upon how the capabilities can be abused, something that will limit the degree to which it's considered useable by everyone. That, to me, seems ok. Although there are usually many annoying uses for something that I could never devise, in this case I'd LIKE voice to be considered something not suitable for general use.

I'm scratching my head a bit over people saying, "We don't want it! You're going to charge EXTRA? That's not fair - it should be free!" Of course, I'm conflating the comments.

Labels: Second Life