Learning is fundamental

Just a quick note for myself on an emerging trend - the changing role of games as tools for productivity and learning.

If character development, and a bit of visual gloss can make repetitive and possibly mundane activities into an addiction, then I have the perfect application for it: the world of productivity porn...

I've never had a problem creating to-do lists...my biggest problem is to stop procrastinating and actually do the to-dos. What I need is an incentive!

So, clearly, what I need is a specialized app, where each task can be assigned a certain number of experience points. Maybe if I, say, replace the furnace air filter, I get a chance at a certain amount of gold or silver. Next, this app checks in with a server and ranks me against other users. What? That guy I work with is level 20 already? I've gotta go mow the lawn, that's worth 500 XP!

Told you it was a great idea. Not only am I getting crap done, but I'm WINNING.

Using games for learning isn't a new idea at all, but there seems to be some important new twists...First, these games are technology (and network) based - meaning that the games are coming in new/different forms and that there's an infinitely large range of competition.

ps: whoever is behind Nintendo's corporate strategy is a friggin' genius (or as the japanese might say...geenusisu)