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Google wave, my thoughts about it.
I bet most of you haven’t heard of this, so I’ll try to explain it to you.
Google Wave is a new way of communicating with each other through the internet. Not something like Twitter or Facebook, more of a replacement for e-mailing. While developing it, the developers kept the idea of what e-mail would be like if it would have been invented today in the back of their head. Of course, I thought this was a brilliant idea and was really glad with my beta-account. But you can guess what happened then. Google Wave disappointed me. Because:
1) It doesn’t work the way it should.
It’s supposed to replace e-mail, but completely fails to do so. The only thing it does, is that you have to visit one more site per day. The thought behind it is like e-mail, that’s true, but it doesn’t work the same way. With e-mails, you send someone a letter through the internet, after which you have to wait until the other person reacts on it. What Google Wave does, is hard to explain. The way I understand it, it’s some sort of chatroom on which people can be invited and can talk to each other in semi-realtime. People can share files quickly too, like pictures and documents. However, this isn’t really necessary. Which brings me to point #2.
2) It’s not really necessary.
The problem that Google tried to solve with Google Wave isn’t a problem anymore. People can already share files with each other and change them real easily. Now, the advantage is that you can all work on these files at the same time. But in my experience, whenever I try to work on something with someone else at the same time, it just doesn’t work, so I can’t see the ‘advantage’ here. Also, the communication-part just isn’t practical. We have Twitter, MSN, texts, Skype, Facebook, telephone, e-mail. Google Wave just isn’t needed. When you try to talk with someone through Google Wave, there is a big chance that someone doesn’t have an account on there. The semi-realtime part isn’t handy either, because you can see what someone types, but on the other hand you can’t. What if you accidentally type something that someone can interpret in a wrong way, or if you’re typing in the wrong window. Then the person on the other side might have read it already. Now, there is a delay between you typing and the other person reading, so there is a chance that the other person won’t read it. So in my opinion, the semi-realtime is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
3) It’s not finished, and won’t be for a very long time.
Google is partly to blame for this, but on the other hand, they can’t do much about it either. The idea was very ambitious, and huge. Google said in the beginning of the developing process that both other people and companies would have to help to make Google Wave a big thing, which is the reason why it is ‘open-source’. For companies, it should be easier to make programs because they get the source-code for free. Now, you would think that companies would use this and think up brilliant ideas for this. However, here is the part that Google is to blame for. To be able to use Google Wave, you’ve got to sign up as a beta. Which means that not everyone can register. They hand out a lot of invites, but that just doesn’t work. There are a lot of people who don’t want to have a part in these kinds of things because they just are not interested in it. And if people don’t use Google Wave, there’s no need to make programs for it, and it only takes longer before it starts to get any real significance in the world of internet.
Google Wave is right now nothing more than a new type of chatroom. This is not what I’d expected, certainly not from Google. For now, Google Wave is a big fail and I wouldn’t know why you’d use it. Still, I give the project like five years to start up properly. If they get rid of the idea to use beta’s, let people in; and promote it properly, I think people will start using it more. It’s not going to replace e-mailing. It’s just not properly created for that, and not big enough either. But we’re talking Google here. Never say never.
Probs for Meova for translating. http://raapsteeltje.livejournal.com/
Source: http://maartuhh.livejournal.com/ (My blog)
Google Wave is a new way of communicating with each other through the internet. Not something like Twitter or Facebook, more of a replacement for e-mailing. While developing it, the developers kept the idea of what e-mail would be like if it would have been invented today in the back of their head. Of course, I thought this was a brilliant idea and was really glad with my beta-account. But you can guess what happened then. Google Wave disappointed me. Because:
1) It doesn’t work the way it should.
It’s supposed to replace e-mail, but completely fails to do so. The only thing it does, is that you have to visit one more site per day. The thought behind it is like e-mail, that’s true, but it doesn’t work the same way. With e-mails, you send someone a letter through the internet, after which you have to wait until the other person reacts on it. What Google Wave does, is hard to explain. The way I understand it, it’s some sort of chatroom on which people can be invited and can talk to each other in semi-realtime. People can share files quickly too, like pictures and documents. However, this isn’t really necessary. Which brings me to point #2.
2) It’s not really necessary.
The problem that Google tried to solve with Google Wave isn’t a problem anymore. People can already share files with each other and change them real easily. Now, the advantage is that you can all work on these files at the same time. But in my experience, whenever I try to work on something with someone else at the same time, it just doesn’t work, so I can’t see the ‘advantage’ here. Also, the communication-part just isn’t practical. We have Twitter, MSN, texts, Skype, Facebook, telephone, e-mail. Google Wave just isn’t needed. When you try to talk with someone through Google Wave, there is a big chance that someone doesn’t have an account on there. The semi-realtime part isn’t handy either, because you can see what someone types, but on the other hand you can’t. What if you accidentally type something that someone can interpret in a wrong way, or if you’re typing in the wrong window. Then the person on the other side might have read it already. Now, there is a delay between you typing and the other person reading, so there is a chance that the other person won’t read it. So in my opinion, the semi-realtime is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
3) It’s not finished, and won’t be for a very long time.
Google is partly to blame for this, but on the other hand, they can’t do much about it either. The idea was very ambitious, and huge. Google said in the beginning of the developing process that both other people and companies would have to help to make Google Wave a big thing, which is the reason why it is ‘open-source’. For companies, it should be easier to make programs because they get the source-code for free. Now, you would think that companies would use this and think up brilliant ideas for this. However, here is the part that Google is to blame for. To be able to use Google Wave, you’ve got to sign up as a beta. Which means that not everyone can register. They hand out a lot of invites, but that just doesn’t work. There are a lot of people who don’t want to have a part in these kinds of things because they just are not interested in it. And if people don’t use Google Wave, there’s no need to make programs for it, and it only takes longer before it starts to get any real significance in the world of internet.
Google Wave is right now nothing more than a new type of chatroom. This is not what I’d expected, certainly not from Google. For now, Google Wave is a big fail and I wouldn’t know why you’d use it. Still, I give the project like five years to start up properly. If they get rid of the idea to use beta’s, let people in; and promote it properly, I think people will start using it more. It’s not going to replace e-mailing. It’s just not properly created for that, and not big enough either. But we’re talking Google here. Never say never.
Probs for Meova for translating. http://raapsteeltje.livejournal.com/
Source: http://maartuhh.livejournal.com/ (My blog)
Comment
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Comment by Eric Fox on January 28, 2010 at 7:35am -
You're just not seeing it in the correct light.
Google Wave was never meant for small time people who already use tons of programs to do these things. It can be used by those people, but that wasn't the main focus. Google Wave is meant to replace all of those applications. ALL OF THEM. It is already better than e-mail because you can send messages with "attachments" back and forth. However, if both of you are online you can IM in the same context, without needing to open a new window/program.
now, let's change the scale, just a bit. Let's say you wanted to talk with a friend who is in another country and doesn't speak your language. Forget how you met this friend, let's assume it's true. Using their built in translator you can talk in real time or through an e-mail like system and never have to browse to a translator page.
Now, let's say you wanted to play D&D online, the real thing, not a computer recreation. You let this friend join in, as well as all of your other friends, and you all sit at the virtual table known as a Wave. You are the DM and have all of the stuff in front of you. Everything else, including character sheets, are all in the wave. You can play almost exactly like in the real world. And your non-english friend can play in real time, too, as the translator has already given him everything you've said in his language.
NOW, let's take this up one more step, out of the casual user. Let's say you own a business. You need to hold a meeting. No one else can come to the meeting at the same time as all of your schedules conflict, just for the sake of argument. Instead of sending constant e-mails, you notice that everyone can be online at the same time. IMs wouldn't be much better than e-mails. However, you all have Wave accounts. You all get on Google and start a new Wave. Now you use the virtual table to show documents involved in the meeting. You can all make edits in real time to the document to illustrate your points better. Let's not forget that you can have people from several countries and languages in on this meeting, and everyone will get everything translated into their own language. AND, once the meeting is over with, the Wave can stay active and allow everyone involved to have access to everything that was said and presented exactly how and when it was said and presented.
The main reason no one gets Google Wave is because they don't see the point. If Google Wave is to ever replace e-mail, you must use it for your e-mail. If it is ever to replace IM clients, you must use it as you IM client. And the accounts are being restricted because they are still testing it out. If the entire world were to suddenly log onto Google Wave, it would be flooded and crash. Instead, they are testing how well it runs with an exponential increase in accounts and bandwidth. This let's them know how much server space is required, how powerful they need to be, and what features are really gonna be used by the average Wave user. Seeing as how everyone is able to give out invites, 2 at a time with replenishments, everyone will eventually have an account, before the test is over.
I'm currently using Google Wave. I am the Vice President of a small company. Google Wave has been a holy grail for this company as almost all of the work is currently done over the internet. Without a real table to sit at and plan, Waves have allowed us to grow faster than we thought possible.
To put this simply, don't pass judgment until the proper demographic has had their chance. You might scare away those that could truly use it to its fullest potential.
© 2012 Created by Chris Pirillo.
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