Screen shot of the main Google Wave page
Last week Google announced it was pulling the plug on Google Wave. When introduced, it was touted by some to be a revolutionary new way to communicate online. Some opined it would replace email, instant messaging and a host of other communication methods. I didn’t think it was “all that and a bag of chips” and certainly not a replacement for email, but I found it quite useful for collaborative projects and described why in my November 2009 article entitled, “Google Wave – Great Potential For Collaboration.”
Many have pointed out Wave’s flaws, and there certainly were some as there is in any new tool. Here are good examples, some which have points I agree with:
- “Let’s Celebrate Google’s Biggest Failures” by Danny Sullivan
- “Why Google Wave Sucks, and Why You Will Use It Anyway” by Martin Seibert on TechCrunch
- “Google Wave’s Unproductive Email Metaphors” by Robert Scoble
Most of the people I talked to about Wave either didn’t get how it could be useful (an argument I hear against using Twitter all the time, too) or that it was too slow (which it was at times).
Despite its shortcomings, I found Wave to be rather handy and used it in a number of collaborative projects. There were others who saw the potential it had and used it with some success, notably Chris Brogan, who wrote a number of times he used it on a project with his Trust Agents coauthor, Julien Smith.
- “How I Came To Love Google Wave” by Chris Brogan
- “How Google Wave Could Transform Journalism” in the L.A. Time Blog
- “Google Wave In Real Life” by Mitch Wagner on Computer World
So, in the end, was Wave a colossal failure? Was it a good idea gone bad or an innovation looking to fill a need that wasn’t there? Call it like you see it. No matter what anyone else may believe about Wave, I applaud them for at least trying.
Sometimes you just can’t tell if an idea is good or bad until you try it out. In cases like with Wave, what looks great in the laboratory just doesn’t quite make it out there in real life.
I will miss Wave on occasion, but not too much. I’ll go back to doing what I was doing before Wave came out. I”m sure another tool is in the offing. Perhaps one a bit easier to “get” and use.
What about you? Did you like Google Wave? Why or why not?
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