I still remember when Google Wave was announced back in May and they had this amazing video produced about it and how it’s going to change the web. I immediately downloaded the video and watched it around 3 times, and I remember I even watched it with co-workers at work in the meeting room, it really created a big buzz.
Recently in late September, Google gave out 100,000 Google Wave invitations to those who are called “Developers”, and of course I didn’t receive one lol. I was really curious to know how it looks like, and couldn’t wait to use it, till I read LifeHacker’s article about it. The screenshots taken were really good and teased me big time. On the 15th of October, @GhadaLancer sent me an invitation to try Google Wave out, which I really thanked her for :). Maybe the web is full of reviews and guides on Google Wave, but I thought that I should be sharing my thoughts with you guys about the long waited product by Google, Google Wave.
When I first logged in, I was really shocked (negatively), I didn’t like it at all and I closed the tab immediately believing that it’s useless and a waste of time. After a couple of hours I thought deep inside that it doesn’t make sense how Google spent a lot of time, money and effort working on something that could be useless and just a waste of time for its users. I gave it another try, read more about it and added new users to the Wave.
Below is my resolution about Google Wave and how I think people are going to benefit out of it.
Many people out there expect that Google Wave will be replacing e-mail, Social media and IM, I highly doubt that and doubt that Google themselves planned to do so. The process of replacement is very hard and not as easy as some people imagine, and whenever someone is working on a certain project it is VERY wrong to think about replacing a current thing, instead you should be challenging it within an area of weakness and I am sure that Google knows very well that they won’t be replacing e-mail, IM and social media with Google Wave. Back to the core of the article, Google Wave seems to be a fantastic tool for teams’ collaboration and project communications, where you can add as much users to a wave, you can attach files to a wave, and you can also use various extensions from a list depending on availability. One nice feature I really liked about Google Wave is that you can see exactly what other users are contributing to the wave you are in, in real-time!
Google didn’t forget the privacy option in their java based communication platform; they have added an option where you can reply to users privately within a wave, without having other users of this wave know what you have sent. Waves are all managed in an e-mail style, where you have inbox, all, by me, trash and you can search within your list of waves as if you are searching your e-mails. You can also mark some waves as read, and unread, you can report some waves as a spam, which I really don’t know why its there since nobody can send me a wave without being on my list. Google wave also shows you your contacts that are online, by adding a green dot to their avatar.
Bottom line, I think Google Wave is cool but we still need to get used to it and I am sure that they will be adding a lot of extra features to it in order to match the users’ needs. Again I don’t think Google is trying to replace e-mail, IM and social media with Wave, although I believe that they are trying to create a new definition of Internet communication that matches the never-ending users’ needs.
If you would like to learn more about Google Wave, you can check LifeHacker’s article: Google Wave 101 and do not forget to add me if you are a on Google Wave: fsteitiyeh[at]googlewave[dot]com
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@robertbravery
October 21, 2009 at 1:45 pmYeah I think it’s cool, but like anything new, there is a lot of hype. With many things moving to cloud computing I believe that Google Wave or an app similar will eventually become standard, but not any time soon
I don’t think we will get a big fall of of normal email or other forms of communication.
Just like Microsoft changed the world of wordprocessing, Google wave might change the world of communication. Who knows. But like MS Word, it took time.
Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Alternatives to Google Wave
hello.I’m looking for an invitation for google wave.I like it very much!Can you give me an invitation if you have one later?
Thank you!
@steitiyeh
October 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm@robert I totally agree with you, it needs time and nobody know whether it will catch up or fall down! We have to wait and see.
Thanks for your comment mate :)
@Xiaohared,
I don’t have any invitations at the moment, but I will add you to the list and once I get my invitations I will send you one.
Have a good day :)
@lifenotion
October 21, 2009 at 5:55 pmThis past June when I was hearing all about this hype of Google Wave, I also wrote an article: http://www.blogofdjj1758.com/2009/06/twaving-twitter-and-google/
But I focused more on what the features merely were like in comparison to the ever popular Twitter.
@steitiyeh I am jealous that you got an invite to at least try it out, but I’m sorry for the disappointment. I do not really know what my first impressions of it would be, but I can assure you that Google Wave probably would have confused me and not replaced my email or skype chatting.
So, I do agree with that Google Wave is merely a replacement , but I would also say that it’s a tool that inspires new development…? But like with everything that Google makes, I am always wanting to try it out, because someday it will be great.
In answering the title of this article, I would have to say that people using Wave are in a tide, but the developers at Google are striving to make it a current.
Derek Jensen´s last blog ..eReader Battle. Amazon or Barnes and Noble?
google waves come with up new products everytime.Google wave seem to be integrated version of gmail,gtalk and pick up from twitter etc.As you said it is very hard to replace email,IM etc
Zeesu´s last blog ..How to protect a computer?
@techcrunchies
November 4, 2009 at 1:03 pmHi Firas
One of my friends too said he has sent an invitation to me, but it has been over two-three weeks and still not received it from my end. Did you get the invite instantaneously?
Anand Srinivasan´s last blog ..Nice SEO Trick You’ll Like
@steitiyeh
November 4, 2009 at 1:51 pmHello Anand,
Google Wave’s invitations need like 2-3 days to arrive, that is the normal case! if you saying that it took like 3 weeks and never arrived, then I think your friend maybe mis-spelled your email or something.