And some bed-time reading about Google Wave...
From:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/30/google-wave-there-will-be-backlash/
Google Wave: There Will Be Backlash
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by MG Siegler on September 30, 2009
Have you gotten your Google Wave invite yet? Just kidding — they’re
not out yet. The team (which is based in Australia) decided to push
them out later today so they could be up to deal with issues
surrounding the massive influx of new users. And judging from the
response on the web, “massive” is also the perfect word to describe
the anticipation for the service.
Ever since it was unveiled at Google I/O this past May, it seems that
everyone wants to know everything about Wave. And yesterday, when it
was revealed that a big roll-out to more than just developers was
around the corner, interest spiked again. Since then, the term has not
left Twitter’s Trending Topics area. But there is always a downside to
so much hype, and I’m pretty certain we’re going to see it in the
coming days and weeks with Google Wave too: Backlash.
Actually, some amount of backlash started immediately after it was
first revealed in May. While we were wowed after a hands-on
demonstration we got, writing that Wave “drips with ambition,” there
were plenty in the press and general public who quickly jumped on the
other side of the coin. Upon seeing the public demonstation, reactions
ranged from “Wow” to “I don’t get it.” But the real test will come
later today when many of those people actually get to use it for the
first time.
We have been using Wave since Google I/O, and while it has been very
buggy, the team has worked hard to iron out a lot of the kinks since
then. Still, there will be plenty who begin using it today who will be
disappointed. It’s a tricky situation for the Wave team. From the get
go, they’ve said that the ultimate vision is for Wave to be a new
communication platform for the web — meaning they hope hundreds, if
not thousands, of other services are built with Wave as the backbone.
But that’s a long ways out. Today, all we have to play with is Google
Wave, the service, which is still very early in its lifespan.
It’s really Google Wave’s ambition that is a dual-edged sword. Because
the team is trying to do so much with the product, there will be
plenty of people who find it confusing and cluttered. And to some
extent, they’re right. But anyone who labels it a failure at this
point is either a curmudgeon or an extremely shortsighted person
claiming to have foresight. It’s a nice thought that every product
should be a taut bundle of execution with an easy path to
monetization. But the web, and really the world, would be a much more
boring place if that were the case.
Part of Google’s strategy with Wave, and part of the reason they’re
putting it out there early, is to see what developers and the users
make of it. In that regard, it’s not all that different from Twitter,
which started as a simple status-update side project, and transformed
into something much different thanks to its users and the third-party
developer community around it.
Wave is much more complicated than Twitter, and that could well be a
downside (remember, keep it simple, stupid). But there’s a difference
between clutter and ambition, especially when you have the resources
of Google behind you. Shooting for the Moon is a good thing, and Wave
has a unique opportunity to do that.
I’m not saying Wave will be a success. Many of the most ambitious
projects often crash and burn — it’s the nature of high risk/high
reward. But we’re still way too early in its lifespan to make that
call for Wave. I can see the backlash already, and I think we should
give it a chance. The end result could well be something that greatly
benefits us all, but getting to that point, if it ever does, will take
time.
[images: Paramount Vantage]
Peace!
Devvie