I wanted to write this post yesterday, to keep up with my good resolutions, but time caught up with me and I had to leave my computer to go and enjoy some time on the lake (we finished 13th, and I had a good windy sailing lesson before that — thanks Dad).
So, as for most of you I guess, Google Wave came up on my Twitter radar these last days. I thought I’d take a quick peek, without spending the whole day on it, so I looked at part of the demo video (the first part, where the actual demo is), and read a few articles (CNET, Mashable and ReadWriteWeb — there are tons of others, but I’m on purpose trying not to be exhaustive in my research… fight that perfectionism!)
In one word? Cool.
I remember many years ago, how taking collaborative notes in SubEthaEdit during the BlogTalk conference in Vienna would every now and then drift into us chatting in the document. (By the way: I’m on the Programme Committee for BlogTalk 2009 which will take place in Jeju, South Korea, on September 1-2. Send in your proposals now!)
I also remember, how many years before that, ICQ introduced “real-time chat” (or whatever they called it), where you could actually see people type when you chatted with them.
And I remember the many many days I’ve spent in endless wiki conversations — I think one of the best ways I can describe Google Wave is to say it’s a very accelerated wiki page with bells and a touch of Facebook.
Google Wave is marrying e-mail and IM, and it’s a good thing. It’s recording the process of the conversation, which makes it easier for outsiders to jump in. It has private, it has public, it has text, it has rich media, it has profiles.
People say it’s a bit hard to get at first, and that, in my opinion, is another indication that it is something really new.
I can’t wait to try it. I get all excited when I think of it. These are my totally uninformed first impressions. Over the years, I’ve come to trust those — Google Wave is going to change things.
Similar Posts:
- Judging Talk Proposals for Conferences [en] (2009)
- BlogTalk 2010: Call for Papers, For You Too! [en] (2010)
- Collaborative BlogTalk Notes on Wiki [en] (2004)
- Playing with Google Wave [en] (2009)
- Taking Collaborative Notes at BlogTalk [en] (2004)
- The Lee Bryant Experiment [en] (2004)
- Lots of Going Solo News [en] (2008)
- Live-Blogging vs. Live-Tweeting at Conferences [en] (2009)
- Google Identity Dilemma [en] (2009)
- Attention Span and Partial Attention [en] (2006)
Google Wave is really going to change communications online. I’m sure there will be an adjustment period online for the less inclined and less tech savvy users, but they will come eventully. Google Wave is very exciting and I cannot wait to get my hands on the beta release of it in the coming months.
First of all this is my first ever blog comment written on my mobile phone.you’re right google wave is hard to get at the beginning. But once it is understandable to you, it turns out as being really innovative.