Google Wave

ora

ora

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Anyone else get into the wave?

It is kinda fun, and I can see it has potential - not sure it is the email killer yet, but it is a step in the right direction, and email really needs to be replaced in my opinion.

This video explains hwo it works in an amusing but somewhat NSFW way (uses audio from pulp fiction).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcxF9oz9Cu0
 
Seems to me it's google saying, "Look at what XMPP can do, join us on this platform". Revolutionising things these days means starting a framework and getting as many people to adopt it as you can. Even google knows this.

I wish I had an invite! Even though I poo poo it and say it's just a mashup of Twitter and Email and a google doc. :)
 
I've not used it, and have to admit I'm not totally clear about what it is. At first glance, it looks like a more sophisticated version of an instant messenger. Or am I missing something?

ora: Out of interest, what is it about E-Mail that you think needs replacing?
 
Email is an old protocol overloaded with newer features -hence why attachments increase the size of files. Use of rich features is unstable or incomplete, and if you get deluged with them it is oh so easy to get lost in the morass. I get a couple of hundred mails per day and in my industry i get off lightly.

Wave is an attempt at being rich, annotated, both synchronous and asynchronous, and all sorts of other stuff. It is faaaaar from perfect but it is an attempt, and a serious one, to move beyond email, which I think needs to happen.

Also weird as it is, you have to use it before you dismiss it. You may dismiss it anyway, but it is worth a look.

EDIT

I met this guy a few years back who talked a lot of sense about the issue with email - his line is don;t replace it but fix/augment it. Like http://www.gaborcselle.com/blog/2008/07/five-open-questions-in-email.html
 
Ferd - send me you email - ideally a gmail address, by PM. They take a few days to arrive though.
 
My opinion is the same of Wave now that I have access to it: Google is trying to do too much with this app.

Is it a business application? For the home user? What is its one sentence elevator pitch? Twitter is "What are you doing right now", Google Wave's is, "Do everything right now".

If Google gives Wave more focus I think the collaboration features could really be a killer app. Without it, Wave will die a quiet death. If it were not invite only would it feel as special? I think probably not.
 
Yep NB, it is far from perfect, but at least someone is starting the conversation.

Any other takers?
 
ora said:
Yep NB, it is far from perfect, but at least someone is starting the conversation.

Any other takers?
Click to expand...

I think what's even more interesting is that Google is taking the XMPP standard that's been in development for nearly 10 years and really making a statement and committing to it. I like that! It's certainly the "wave of the future", yuk yuk, and it's going to be exciting to see if it helps us all better organise our communications through better search.
 
OK, maybe a poor choice of phrase, made the conversation public perhaps? By analogy the Cloud did not begin with Amazon but they moved it into the sphere of public discussion.

Anyway, as I understand it XMPP refers to the realtime parts of Wave, which is not in fact the bit I think is exciting, its the annotation/internal threading etc. The support for embedded content etc etc.

Basically I get several hundred emails a day and it is not an efficient way to do my work, but it is what is used in the Industry, I just want to see people trying it implement alternatives or at least improvements on the grand scale, and Google are all about the grand scale.
 
Here's my thoughts:

1. Apple iChat also uses XMPP, as do many other chat clients, so what Google is doing is just building upon that framework and incorporating other functionality visually.

2. I think exploring this space is a good thing (what XMPP can do) but I don't think Google has implemented it particularly well. Most people who start using it, me included, take one look and say, "now what".

Google is not known for it's stellar interaction design, in fact the ratio is about 800 devs to 10 designers: http://thesalon.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-interaction-designers-leaving.html

What I'm hoping is Google and everyone else, since XMPP is opensource, does is takes this thing to the point where we get GoToMeeting meets Twitter meets email with the usability level of an iPhone or Ducati motorcycle. :)

Sure, my expecations are high - but please Google, don't keep Wave in beta for 6 odd years like you did Google Mail. Iterate, but then finalise and commit.

My .02.
 
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