Though many seem to disagree with me, I think the hardware requirements are simply moving up faster than people can upgrade. The majority of the people who used Second Life were middle working class where the majority of their money went towards bills. Buying updated graphics cards and processors, if not whole computers just isn't in the budget, especially when the current computer works fine for everything else including browsing the web. A friend of mine, ironically on Second Life, gave me a different theory. It has gained a reputation of being a hot spot for people with a more, spicy life style and only wants a sexual activity fantasy, especially with avatars that have a animal essence (some call them furries) to their human shape.