What are the future plans for Second Life from the owners perspective?

Linden Lab presents Second Life as “an exciting new venue for collaboration, training, distance learning, new media studies and marketing”. It’s clear they want to concentrate more on business and training aspects than on social ones. They count on big investors like companies, educational institutions, governmental institutions, particular investors. In the “Business & Education” section of the website you can see some directions pointed by the owners.
They propose following possibilities:

virtual meetings for multinational companies

prototyping of new products, testing new concept and designs

new business simulation

event planner (concert, class, party, wedding etc)

innovative learning environment

tools and techniques for information and scientific visualization

marketing and advertisement.