Web Ramblings

So, I’ve had access to ‘Google Wave’ for a few weeks now and my initial thought is … Its really quite cool.

At first glance it does appear to be a lot like just another chat facility with an email inbox style layout. What is nice though is that each ‘Wave’ can have more than two people talking in them. You create your ‘Wave’ which appears as a message box on the right. Then add the people you want to ‘Wave’.

Each of those people see the ‘Wave’ in their inbox as soon as they are added and they can all participate in the topic. I can see a massive amount of potential for this feature alone as it reminds me of conference calls but in an email style format.

example of a 'Wave' in action (all contact details are hidden)

Although its still in beta, there are lots of nice features built in already. The ability to add Google maps, and attach files directly into a ‘Wave’ are both nice touches. I also like that you can now see who is logged into ‘Wave’ (something that was missing when I first got my invite).

one of the gadgets that can be added to a 'Wave'

The Add Gadget by URL facility is a little intimidating though,  it implies you know where to find a URL for the gadget you want to add. This is fine if you are comfortable with computers, but if this is going to be used within in an office environment then it needs to be more user friendly. It would be nice to see a centralized area where you can view all of the gadgets available and simply select the one you want to add.

However, as I said, it is still in beta and I suspect this will become a really powerful feature once everyone has access and 3rd party developers can start building gadgets. After all, iPhone wouldn’t be anywhere near as good if only Apple created the apps.

The only other thing that I’m not convinced about (other than that everyone can see how bad my typing really is) is there is also the facility to edit other people’s responses within the ‘Wave’. Often, clients will email me to agree elements of a design or send through copy etc. If there was ever a dispute about something I had received in a ‘Wave’ how could I prove I didn’t edit it?

After discussing ‘Google Wave’ with various people who were also lucky enough to get invites and at the last Shropgeek meetup (you can see a review of that here), the possibilities for this application seem endless. @zbeauvais‘ made a comment about having the ability to access data within a ‘Wave’. This would be really good, how handy would it be to quote dictionary definitions in a ‘Wave’ just by adding the dictionary bot to your contacts? (information about this is still restricted to the Wave Sandbox).

There are lots of other features I would still like to see added, notification of when a ‘Wave’ has been updated would be nice as would the ability to import your email inbox into the ‘Wave’ screen so that you can keep all correspondences together and organised.

Overall, the opinion seems to be that Google Wave will be really great once everybody has access but until then its quite limited. And I agree, I’ve already thought of several instances where using ‘Wave’ to communicate would have been ideal but as none of the people I need to communicate with have access yet, its a little frustrating.

There is now a complete guide to Google Wave available online, and you can also submit ideas and suggestions on ways to improve Google Wave here. And of course, if you have received an invite and you want to ‘Wave’ me you can find me at kburgoine@googlewave.com

See you in the ‘Wave’! ~ grin!