So just what is Second Life?

There's a really good article on Second Life in the Aust Financial Review, Friday 20 April, Review section pages 6 and 7. Where it is now, where it might go, does it have a future ...
[This was originally posted on my Multa blog, so it's not really recently read. There was one comment, "This is one of the few articles written by someone who actually uses Second Life and understands the culture - instead of "I created an avatar this afternoon and found it a puzzling place", which is what you often get."]