The value of Linden$ ?

[Walt Weston]

I think it is great that sl is for everyone all over the world. And I think it is great that all people with a pc just can join and take  part in this world for free.

 But I can’t help wondering however, that 100 linden$ for some of us is “just a grip in the pocket”, while it for others can be a lot of  money – depending which country you live in rl.

 Just for interest, and without you need to “reveal” where you come from, I think it could be nice to know, for example, what you can buy or not buy in your home-country if you should change 100 L$ to  the currency of your land.

 I can begin by telling, that for 100L$ I can’t even buy a beer, or a newspaper in rl. If I want to buy the cheapest beer at the supermarket, I have to pay 150 L$ + deposit for the bottle 100L$.

 A simple newspaper is about 400L$. Sunday a bit more expensive.

So, to participating in sl is equal for everybody, but to afford buying things in sl is not equal to everybody at all, I think.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

I think 100L in my country is worth about 40 cents

I don't think I can even get a daily paper for less than 40 cents anymore. I wouldn't know cause I haz the net. Would be lucky if that bought a cup of coffee

[Qie Niangao]

Where I live, L$100 buys 2 minutes and 20.5 seconds of the statutory minimum wage.

[phaedra Exonar]

100L$ = 20.37 Afghan Afghani

100L$ = 5.14 Mexican Paso

100L$ = 20.95 Indian Rupee

100L$ = 31.21 Japanese Yen

100L$ = 199.36 Costa Rican Colon

100L$ = 466.00 Iraqi Dinar

3 billion people globally live on less then 494L$ a day.

Average global income is 4856L$ per day.

It's possible to feed your self in the US on 350 to 500 L$ per day, (no beer or news paper.)

What I'm looking for is the best country to retire in with L$ lol  

 

[Kelli May]

Hardly anything... weighed produce maybe; a few onions OR one apple OR a couple of carrots. Around L$400 might buy a cup of tea or coffee in a very cheap cafe. Well over L$1000 for a Big Mac.

[Dillon Levenque]

There's no question that 100L$ (in exchange value) means much more in some places than others, but I think in terms of Second Life maybe the differences are not all that important.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using a computer they (or someone in their family) owns.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using an internet connection they or their family or some organization they are connected with pay(s) for. Right now in my neighborhood you can get SL usable internet for about 5,000L$/month (first six months, special introductory offer, exclusions apply). A person who needs to think carefully about spending 100L$ should not be spending money on internet access.

This woman probably does not have internet access at home. She probably doesn't mind, since there's a good chance she doesn't have a computer anyway (nor electricity, for that matter). Might not even know what a computer is. Funny thing is: she seems to be in a pretty positive mood. Maybe she knows something we don't. Maybe she doesn't know stuff we do. The important thing is: she's found a way to make that work for her. Will I meet her in RL or SL? No, probably not. Would she be thrilled to have my (unexciting by local standards but no doubt fabulous by hers) income? Maybe. Maybe she'd be smart enough to decide she's gotten this far with what she has. She does look pretty smart.

I kind of got off track, but I was trying to suggest that for just about everyone in Second Life (I do realize there are some possible exceptions) the price of Lindens doesn't really matter all that much. People for whom the exchange value of 100L$ matters are probably not wasting their money on internet access.

 

Edited: I'd originally made an erroneous comment based on Phaedra's numbers (the error was mine). Deleted one sentence and replaced it with another.

[Jadeclaw Denfu]

These are the exchange rates on offer at EldexChange:

EUR	USD	GBP	CHF	SEK	PLN	CZK
304	252	400	267	37	77	12

(CHF = Swiss Franc, SEK = Swedish Krona, PLN = Sloty, CZK = Czech Krone)

A Big Mac is currently EUR 3,49 in Germany, that's L$1064,45

A bad quality Tabloid (notorious liars) costs about L$200,-- a good quality newspaper is about L$500,--

A drinkable beer (better tasting than american beer) is about L$ 200,-- + L$75,-- deposit.

 

 

 

 

[Lori492]

The least number of L$ I can currently buy from my viewer is 543 for $2.50, so L$100 is worth about $0.46.

I'd like to know where in the US you can feed yourself on L$350 - 500 a day.

A pound of bananas cost $0.49 (this week), a 0.5L bottle of water costs $1.20.

*The meal plan where I go to college costs me $2,869 per semester.  The fall semester (less Holidays when the campus is closed) means that covers meals for 91 days.   Even at the best currently available Lindex rate, that works out to about L$7,800 per day.

[phaedra Exonar]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/2621762919/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/2621761641/in/set-72157605883212162

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/sets/72157605883212162/with/2621762919/

easy don't eat out, bulk beans and rice, tap water, fresh vegetable with what ever $ is left over, fast once a week.  Now that I have a RL job again I spend around 2822 L$ per day on food but I get a discount on all my food from working in a grocery store, and now that I have a RL job again sales in SL pick up finally lol

as for where I went from Denver to Kansas to Arazona looking for work, Kansas was the big down fall, my unemployment had just ran out and I moved there for a job with my last savings, got there and then never got payed for the work I did.  First 2 jobs I appalyed for in Arazona turned out to be identy theft scams lol

any way it was great adventure learned a lot, such is life

 

[Walt Weston]

It is very interesting to learn from your replies.

If I buy an apple I have to spend 100L$. But of course the price is more easy to compare proportionally if you know, that a minimum wage is 756.800 L$ per month, but then we have to pay about 33% in taxes to the State of that amount. Internet is about 8.000 L$ per month.

It is rather funny to think, that I can rent an apartment in sl for two weeks, for a single apple :-)

To buy a hole region of land in sl, is rather too expensive for me in tiers to LL though.

[Amaranthim Talon]

All praise Ramen noodles...

[Czari Zenovka]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

There's no question that 100L$ (in exchange value) means much more in some places than others, but I think in terms of Second Life maybe the differences are not all that important.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using a computer they (or someone in their family) owns.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using an internet connection they or their family or some organization they are connected with pay(s) for. Right now in my neighborhood you can get SL usable internet for about 5,000L$/month (first six months, special introductory offer, exclusions apply). A person who needs to think carefully about spending 100L$ should not be spending money on internet access.

This woman probably does not have internet access at home. She probably doesn't mind, since there's a good chance she doesn't have a computer anyway (nor electricity, for that matter). Might not even know what a computer is. Funny thing is: she seems to be in a pretty positive mood. Maybe she knows something we don't. Maybe she doesn't know stuff we do. The important thing is: she's found a way to make that work for her. Will I meet her in RL or SL? No, probably not. Would she be thrilled to have my (unexciting by local standards but no doubt fabulous by hers) income? Maybe. Maybe she'd be smart enough to decide she's gotten this far with what she has. She does look pretty smart.

I kind of got off track, but I was trying to suggest that for just about everyone in Second Life (I do realize there are some possible exceptions) the price of Lindens doesn't really matter all that much. People for whom the exchange value of 100L$ matters are probably not wasting their money on internet access.

 

Edited: I'd originally made an erroneous comment based on Phaedra's numbers (the error was mine). Deleted one sentence and replaced it with another.

---

This reminds me of an old, somewhat obscure movie - The Gods Must Be Crazy.  It is presented as a documentary but is actually a comedy.  In a nutshell, an isolated native tribe is healthy, happy and thriving until a pilot throws a Coke bottle out of his airplane and either hits one of the tribes people or it falls in front of him.  Having never seen anything like this, the bottle becomes a treasure, resulting in jealousy, fighting, and general interruption of the peaceful life the tribe had known prior

A bit of a commentary on materialism.  Great movie - higly recommend it.

 

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Czari Zenovka wrote:

This reminds me of an old, somewhat obscure movie -

The Gods Must Be Crazy

.  It is presented as a documentary but is actually a comedy.  A bit of a commentary on materialism.  Great movie - higly recommend it.

 

---

 

That made me smile just remembering it. You're right—that was a great movie :-)

[DQ Darwin]

@Czari- thanks foir the reminder that was a great movie.

@Dillon you promised not to use Granny's picture anymore...she will not be pleased

Dillon Levenque wrote:

---

Czari Zenovka wrote:

This reminds me of an old, somewhat obscure movie -

The Gods Must Be Crazy

.  It is presented as a documentary but is actually a comedy.  A bit of a commentary on materialism.  Great movie - higly recommend it.

 

---

 

That made me smile just remembering it. You're right—that was a great movie :-)

---

 

 

 

 

[phaedra Exonar]

---

Walt Weston wrote:

It is very interesting to learn from your replies.

If I buy an apple I have to spend 100L$. But of course the price is more easy to compare proportionally if you know, that a minimum wage is 756.800 L$ per month, but then we have to pay about 33% in taxes to the State of that amount. Internet is about 8.000 L$ per month.

It is rather funny to think, that I can rent an apartment in sl for two weeks, for a single apple :-)

To buy a hole region of land in sl, is rather too expensive for me in tiers to LL though.

---

if an apple can pay for an appartment in SL for 2 weeks then may be a a single grape might be worth 1L$ or getting close to that.  if so how many L$ dose it take to make a galss of wine

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

There's no question that 100L$ (in exchange value) means much more in some places than others, but I think in terms of Second Life maybe the differences are not all that important.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using a computer they (or someone in their family) owns.

Just about everyone in Second Life is using an internet connection they or their family or some organization they are connected with pay(s) for. Right now in my neighborhood you can get SL usable internet for about 5,000L$/month (first six months, special introductory offer, exclusions apply). A person who needs to think carefully about spending 100L$ should not be spending money on internet access.

This woman probably does not have internet access at home. She probably doesn't mind, since there's a good chance she doesn't have a computer anyway (nor electricity, for that matter). Might not even know what a computer is. Funny thing is: she seems to be in a pretty positive mood. Maybe she knows something we don't. Maybe she doesn't know stuff we do. The important thing is: she's found a way to make that work for her. Will I meet her in RL or SL? No, probably not. Would she be thrilled to have my (unexciting by local standards but no doubt fabulous by hers) income? Maybe. Maybe she'd be smart enough to decide she's gotten this far with what she has. She does look pretty smart.

I kind of got off track, but I was trying to suggest that for just about everyone in Second Life (I do realize there are some possible exceptions) the price of Lindens doesn't really matter all that much. People for whom the exchange value of 100L$ matters are probably not wasting their money on internet access.

 

Edited: I'd originally made an erroneous comment based on Phaedra's numbers (the error was mine). Deleted one sentence and replaced it with another.

---

Why yes, I am in a pretty positive mood. My fedora is keeping its shape, even after using it for a pillow. You can't beat the view from my front porch (well, I don't actually have much of a front porch, as I inherited my bustline from my Father, not my Mother), and the view from my  back porch (which I did inherit from my Mother) is pretty nice too.

There's plenty of research to show that, beyond a certain level of income needed to secure the basics, happiness does not correlate with wealth, though there is some small evidence that access to the internet can promote happiness. There's also evidence that spending time on the internet comes at the expense of more valuable real-life social connections. More than one in three humans have access to it, including me. While we're wondering about the value of a $L, what about the value of an hour?

If you think I look smart (ty!), you should see Mom.

;-)

[Amie Kaestner]

A single sheet of toilet paper.

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

there is some small evidence that access to the internet can promote happiness.

---

 

Some 'small evidence' is still evidence. And I do like the hat ;-).