A patent shows a “virtual shopping world” that will eventually — i.e. never — end up in the Apple store. The project, which is similar to Second Life, will allow you to walk through a virtual store and buy real things. My problem with this is that when you visit an online store, you’re not shopping — you’re buying. You go to the Apple store to pick up a laptop, not look at 50 laptops. But that’s just me. Maybe I’m just a crank.