It looks like the Google Wave team has been working all weekend.
Judging by the tweets I'm seeing and what I've seen from friends and acquaintances, some of those 100,000 Google Wave invites are starting to actually arive in in-boxes of real people.
This is a good thing, but it presents a problem that I've seen myself first-hand: You have this great new communication device but you don't have anyone to communicate with!
It's like learning sign language, and then looking around for someone to sign with, but nobody else knows how so your new language is somewhat lost.
And Wave works only in a browser window. Because it's new, it will be hard to remember to go and check the new thing. (Don't call it an in-box, that's a dying metaphor).
So now we are in this awkward transition, but I remember one like this before.
I think I even remember a Dilbert cartoon about it. The pointy-haired boss tells his assistant to email a document, but then fax it to be sure he sees it, and then send it through the regular mail so he has a "clean" copy. The secretary then mumbles something about, I think, her office isn't paperless but it is clueless.
So now we'll have people sending messages through Wave, but then sending an email that says, "I Waved that to you."
Of course, there will also be people who tweet that.
You watch, sometime in the next year we'll see a trending topic on Twitter that is basically appearing because so many people are reminding so many other people to check their Wave.
Once there's a Twitter integration, however, then Twitter itself will become the "Fax" of late in the first decade of the new millennium.
In the meantime, it's nice to see that the Google Wave team is maintaining a good sense of humor.
I will be reading lots about Wave and reporting here about the best, but I am open to all suggestions about what aspects of Wave to cover. If you have a tip, well, I'm like a waiter: I live on the tips. If you want to reach me you can do so on my personal blog, Scott, or via Twitter using the button below.
Comments
"And Wave works only in a browser window."
...for now. The XMPP communication standard is such that it is not bound to any one device, much like email.
"This is a good thing, but it presents a problem that I've seen myself first-hand: You have this great new communication device but you don't have anyone to communicate with!"
Not fully true. Aside from the obvious ability to add contacts who have Wave, each developer preview account comes with an accompanying sandbox account with this naming scheme:
Username@wavesandbox.com
Username-test@wavesandbox.com
"So now we'll have people sending messages through Wave, but then sending an email that says, 'I Waved that to you.'"
I agree that the transition will be awkward for some, but most should realize the awesome power of gadgets and robots. Why retrieve your mail separately when you can just run a Gmail (or other service) gadget in Wave? The thing you should be focusing on is gadget and robot development.
I agree that I should be covering gadgets, and I will be starting with the six approved extensions.
Thanks!
This is our future, everyone. Watch the LONG introduction to Google Wave. In sum, Google is bringing all its products to its Gmail platform. I smile at Google's "We're so cool and understated that you don't even realize that we're taking over Facebook, MySpace, Kodak Gallery, Twitter, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, WordPress, Craigslist, LinkedIn and anything that Microsoft would even dare to create through our Gmail platform. Psst, don't tell anyone but we're forcing you to have one account for EVERYTHING you do online. And you'd better have a Gmail account." Brilliant.
Hey, great hook from TechCrunch!
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