The Google Wave that is.
I am fortunate. Last Friday I got my invitation and first chance to use the newest product from Google called Wave. To be honest I have to say that I’m not completely blown away. That’s not a bad thing though. I felt the same way about Gmail and I use that every day.
First Impressions of Wave
There’s going to be a learning curve. Google Wave looks very similar to tools we’ve all used, but it’s different. It is a little instant messenger, a little e-mail, and a little Facebook, all with Track Changes and instant replay. Being familiar with all of those tools will help but you’re going to have to get in there and play with it to really harness the full potential.
Noteworthy features include:
- all messages contained in a single thread or “conversation”
- add new participants to the conversation at any time
- ability to play back entire conversation (gets newbies up to speed)
- spell check (we all need it)
- private conversations within thread
- tagging for quick search later on
Here’s a couple of pictures of the Google Wave interface.
And some detail shots
If you think about the tools Google offers, in general they are very simple to use; their beauty lies in their details. To quote the great architect, Mies van der Rohe, “God is in the details.” Little things make the difference between good and great. Clearly Google understands this and has created a winning formula for their products.
Simple interface (speed + great results) = awesome product
Throw FREE into this equation and you’ve got a sure thing.
Ironically, I can see Wave catching on in the professional setting first. I say this for two reasons. First, e-mail still rules in the office, not so much on the street. Second, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are doing a pretty good job at satisfying people’s need to share.
The future
I fully intend to keep using Google Wave. I think it will make my life easier, certainly at work. Google will continue to improve it too. One thing you can say for sure about Google is that they NEVER stop improving their products.
When you get your invitation, give Wave a try, if nothing more it will give you a glimpse of the future direction of online communication and collaboration
Tags: communication, content sharing, email, facebook, gmail, google, google wave, twitter, wave
I find myself not using Google Wave as much as I could be. One of big reasons is because the people on my contact list don’t use it either. I think it’s going to take a while before we see any type of advantage to using Wave.
do you think it could replace something like Base Camp?
Given Google’s ability to push adoption combined with their overall reputation for solid products I think that is a very distinct possibility.
The best thing about email and the killer for wave as it now exists is that email works with everybody’s email no matter who their mail client. It would be great if at least it integrated with the gmail interface. Probably far far in the future. But for now the need to open yet another window makes it difficult.
Also it seems to take a lot of bandwidth