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Spider
06-01-2009, 11:44 AM
I wonder if this belongs on The WaterCooler or here. (Mod: feel free to move it, if you wish.)

A techie friend pointed me to this demo and I was blown away. I have always been wary of Google - don't really trust them, to be truthful - and this Wave-thingy is much more to be worried about.

Except that, it looks like, if one is not on it, when it goes live, one is going to be very much left behind.

What do the SBF forumites think of it? -- Google Wave Preview (http://wave.google.com/)

vangogh
06-01-2009, 01:51 PM
I had meant to watch that video over the weekend, but didn't get a chance. I did watch the first 25 minutes this morning to get a feel for what Wave is. I think it looks like a great and very useful communication tool.

There are potential problems I can see. If you're wary of giving Google access to your communication you might not want to use it, though if you're using gmail you already are giving them that access. I can see how Wave might blur the lines between private and public communication. I did see in the video how you can have control over who sees your Wave, but I can think of some ways there could still be problems. Those problems would mostly be based on what the people inside the Wave do with the information. That problem already exists now since anyone could publish what you think is a private email. Wave just makes it quicker and easier for the message to spread.

I don't think you'd be left behind by not using it. From what I saw nothing inside Wave doesn't already exist in some other form. You could still communicate via email and instant messenger, etc. Wave is really combining some tools to make communication easier. It's biggest asset is in being able to communicate with more than one person. If all you need is a back and forth with one person, email or IM is perfectly fine.

Overall I do think it can be a great thing. Right away I can see where it would make conversations with clients much easier, especially if you work with a company where you you have several points of contact. Collaborating on a project will be easier. Again though, these tools exist already. Wave looks more like it combines various forms of communication and centralizes the conversation to make communication easier.

Dan Furman
06-02-2009, 12:26 AM
It does look useful, but yea, it's just enhanced communication, really. We communicate at astonishing speeds / ways now, so nothing will really surprise me. Maybe they demonstrated the whiz-bang stuff later in the video (I didn't watch the whole thing), but from what I saw it combines e-mail / chat / and MySpace.

I do not think this is a "left behind" tech. It's nice, and cool, but it's just communications. It's about as "must have" as blogs - blogs were a HUGE thing not that long ago - everyone was saying you had to have a blog. Then we found out most people just don't have much to say...

Or Facebook... yea, it's neat, and has its uses, but it's not the "join or perish" tech it was a year ago. It's basically a good way to keep in touch with people you don't see often. And that's about it.

I see this in the same way - businesses will use it to collaborate with each other (like webex or whatnot - they have lots of tools for this now), kids will use it to talk, but again, it's just communication. Short of teleportation, we're not enhancing that much further than it is right now.

vangogh
06-02-2009, 12:33 AM
If you watch the whole thing it does a little more and the presentation in the video was delivered to developers who Google hopes will build some additions to the system between now and when Wave is officially released.

I think it's going to be very useful for intra-company communication. There's a lot of benefit in it for project management. Will you and I start communicating personally with Wave? That I don't see, at least not right away. Email is a very simple concept for the not so tech savvy to grasp. You type what you want to say and click send. I'd suggest for most people that's all they need. If you need real time communication online there's IM.

I think it's great that Google is combining both and more into one system, but do we all want every bit of communication to go through Google? Probably not. Will everyone need all that communication in one system? Again probably not. But for those that do it looks like a really great system.

Spider
06-02-2009, 09:26 AM
Okay. I have been suitably de-awed! Google is not taking over the world after all (thank goodness!)

I feel a little safer this morning!

Wave has gone from "Awe-inspiring" to "Neat!"

vangogh
06-02-2009, 09:56 AM
Or maybe Dan and I are just trying to divert your attention while Google does indeed take over the world. :)

vangogh
06-03-2009, 12:33 PM
Found this post, Six Ways that Google Wave is Going to Change Your Business, Career and Life (http://thinkvitamin.com/dev/six-ways-that-google-wave-is-going-to-change-your-business-career-and-life/), and thought it would be relevant to post here. The post makes some interesting points.

For example


embedded Waves remove the need to physically visit a site in order to interact with it.

That is a big change. RSS makes it possible to consume content from a site without having to visit, but you still need to visit the site to communicate or interact with it. With Wave you could communicate without the visit.

Another point:


developers and designers will be able to sell Extensions to their clients or to a wider audience, possibly in an Extensions marketplace. This means a huge potential source of new income, providing there is mass adoption of Wave.

If that's true it's certainly an incentive for developers and designers to create extensions. Hard to know what extensions will be developed, but if you look at how Firefox extensions or apps for the iPhone have made both better than the default you can imagine Wave becoming much more useful over time.

Dan Furman
06-03-2009, 07:32 PM
what is the "test"?

vangogh
06-03-2009, 08:26 PM
Test? Huh? I'm confused.

Dan Furman
06-03-2009, 09:58 PM
Test? Huh? I'm confused.

The "this is just a test" in your sig?

vangogh
06-04-2009, 01:18 AM
Oh. I'll fill you in with a PM.

Spider
06-04-2009, 11:27 AM
Why not tell us all? Now the subject is raised and the attention drawn to your sig, the whole world is dying to know.

(Is this an example of "creating tantalizing interest" that you learned at advertising school? Or part of the VG/Dan divergence strategy while Google takes over the world?)

vangogh
06-04-2009, 06:09 PM
Sorry it's not the kind of test that anyone needs to know about. Nothing I'm going to make public. Trust me when I say it's not anything that's going to help anyone here. If it was I would be happy to share.

Spider
06-04-2009, 10:10 PM
No problem - I'm kinda teasing you - kinda! :)

vangogh
06-04-2009, 11:23 PM
I promise if it was anything meaningful I would share.

nighthawk
06-14-2009, 05:00 PM
Found this post, Six Ways that Google Wave is Going to Change Your Business, Career and Life (http://thinkvitamin.com/dev/six-ways-that-google-wave-is-going-to-change-your-business-career-and-life/), and thought it would be relevant to post here. The post makes some interesting points.


Thanks for the link, I've been meaning to watch that video for a while, I was hoping for a summary somewhere.

I think the key point you missed in that article is the fact that Wave is open source. For all those that are worried about google having access to your data - dont, anyone can write and operate a Wave server.

It certainly sounds interesting, I like the idea of the gadgets. I can imagine a google maps gadget being extremely useful. Chat away with a friend in real time, open up a google map gadget and draw the directions right there infront of them. If the idea of an exchange takes off like the article suggests, it could be a good revenue opportunity for developers.

Anyone got any ideas of gadgets that would be helpful to small businesses? :P

vangogh
06-15-2009, 10:46 AM
Wave is open source

Sorry, thought I had implied that when I pulled the quote about being able to develop for Wave, but you're right I should have mentioned it. The open source nature of Wave is what will ultimately drive it. As it is now, it's a nice tool, but not something everyone would need. As people develop more for it who knows what it will become.

Spider
06-15-2009, 03:06 PM
Ah, so it's not Google taking over the world - it's software developers.

I'll pass that bit of intelligence to Brain when he returns to his laboratory this evening! :D

nighthawk
06-15-2009, 05:29 PM
Ah, so it's not Google taking over the world - it's software developers.

Don't worry, the world's in safe hands.

/queue evil laugh. *muhahahaha*

KristineS
06-19-2009, 12:55 PM
I finally got a chance to look at this more in depth. I think it could have great utility for companies, like the one for which I work, which have multiple locations. This week is a great example. Our IT Director is away and I'm here in the office and we've been working on creating a new website most of the week. We've communicated through e-mail and Skype and such, but having Google Wave would make that communication even easier.

I'm kind of excited about this. I think I need to examine it in a bit more detail, but at first glance it looks like it could be a great tool for people who work from remote locations.

vangogh
06-19-2009, 09:35 PM
it could be a great tool for people who work from remote locations.

That's probably who'll find it most useful, though I can see it working well even if everyone works together in the same location. It could be useful for someone like me as well to share things with clients while building their site. Email is usually enough, but when there are several people who may want to see a design or site in progress Wave may be a good solution to sharing documents and feedback.

Spider
06-20-2009, 11:43 AM
I see no reason why people in the same office wouldn't use it. Surely it's better to work on your own computer, communicating with colleagues on their computers, even if they are sitting next to you in a bank of computers, not to mention other people in their own offices down the hall. A dozen people sitting in a conference room or crowding round a single monitor is not the most efficient form of getting things done, in either case.

I thnk Wave will be hugely valuable. I'd like to see it expanded to a wall (8'0" x 14'0" screen) rather than make it small enough to use on a mobile 1.5" screen.

jazzdrive3
06-20-2009, 02:41 PM
I could be the next big thing. Or it could putter into nothing.

Depends on adoption. In my experience people still like the simplicity of regular email.

vangogh
06-21-2009, 12:59 PM
I agree. I doubt adoption will be big at first, but ultimately it will also depend on what others develop or the system. I'm sure Google would like everyone to use Wave, but I see it more as a business tool than a personal tool. I think most people will still prefer the simplicity of a single email or an IM chat and not need all the extras.