Google Wave, much maligned, but misunderstood.


In the wake of widespread disappointment surrounding Google Wave, an open discussion at Social Media Cafe Manchester helped to put the technology into focus and answer many of the questions posed by it's critics.

Sat in the Manchester Bar in the BBC, Oxford Road, we waited with bated breath to see if any major revelations would come to the fore. Initially we were disappointed. There were many people in the audience who simply hadn't used Google Wave, or who had at best merely dabbled. So much of the first twenty minutes were spent explaining how it works, and getting input from the audience as to it's downsides. People discussed the incredibly slow speed, the frustrating scroll bars, the difficulty in navigating long multi-contributor Waves and many more 'detail' gripes, adeptly hosted by Lexusperplexus, @lexplex_ (apologies, not sure of his real name)

However all of the above are distracting from the concept. There were two particular figures in the audience last night who shed much light on the subject. One worked for the BBC (Ian Forrester, @cubicgarden), and the other was a developer (Paul Robinson, @p7r) who had been involved in the beta stage of Google Wave. Between them they explained quite clearly that Wave is the technology, and that Google Wave as we know it is merely a preview of how the technology might work.

It was admitted that the interface is far too clunky, that it is not intuitive, and that by rights it has been released to a confused audience far, far too early, leading to misinterpretation and apathy. Had Google have waited maybe a year or two longer, and launched a slicker product, with a clearer description of it's purpose, maybe the audience at large would 'get it'.

But it was in the answering of two questions that perspective was finally found. Firstly, and most importantly was the revelation that Wave is a technology that is not specific to Google, but that will in time be used via a range of 'Wave' clients - much in the same way we use email now, ie through Outlook or Apple Mail etc. And secondly, once this is in place, the performance speed of a Wave will be much improved as it will no longer mean every Wave going into and out of Google's servers, rather it will utilise local servers as we are used to with email and the internet now.

With this in mind we can now see clearly how Google's Wave interface is simply a vehicle in it's infancy, designed to show us how digital communication and collaboration will be in the very near future.

I suspect that much of the confusion has arisen from Google's desire to be 'first to the party', and to hide the fact that the technology is not exclusive to Google. Understandable from a business point of view, but given the poor response it's had I think Google would have benefited from a more transparant approach...

Andy Chesters

Comments...

  • An excellent summary of the discussion - a better summary than I could've offered! It puts a nice positive spin on the concept too - the future is promising, but it needs a lot of work to get there.
    03/12/2009 00:00:00 by Alex Wood
  • Agreed Mark, I'd be amazed if Apple weren't already working on something similar to be integrated into the OS, in the same way Mail is now. You could bet your bottom dollar the interface would be significantly better than Google's too!
    02/12/2009 17:48:35 by Andy Chesters
  • Good to know that the underwhelming experience of Google Wave in its current state is simply due to its infancy and Google's early launch, and it's not just me! So far, the most Waves I have been involved in have started with "What now?" followed by complaints similar to those listed above. I'm sure time will tell and there is a huge market for those savvy enough to create a client that combines Waves, Twitter and other social tools in the near future.
    02/12/2009 00:00:00 by Mark McGee

Add a comment


Name:   
Comment:   
 

Jobs we know about

Things we know are happening

  • LSx: Girl Geeks

    Just for this February, Girl Geek is a less formal occasion, at Old Broadcasting House, coupling ...

    06/02/2012 | Leeds - Old Broadcasting House

    Just for this February, Girl Geek is a less formal occasion, at Old Broadcasting House, coupling a talk from one of Leeds' foremost digital artists with a documentary screening, from LSx's Buffering… series.

  • SMC_MCR: Digital innovation in Manchester

    After an intimate fireside meetup in January, SMC_MCR returns to its regular format in February, ...

    07/02/2012 | Manchester - Lammars

    After an intimate fireside meetup in January, SMC_MCR returns to its regular format in February, and it's at a different venue!

  • LSxCafé (…formerly OpenCoffee Leeds)

    OpenCoffee Leeds is now the LSxCafé, continuing with our traditional coffee + cake networking, ...

    07/02/2012 | Leeds - Old Broadcasting House

    OpenCoffee Leeds is now the LSxCafé, continuing with our traditional coffee + cake networking, but emphasising a demo culture and encouraging attendees to show off what they're currently working on.

  • D&AD Education Day - Sheffield

    The Education Day tour comes to the Sheffield on 8 February. See you all in the steel city.

    08/02/2012 | Sheffield - Sheffield Hallam University

    The Education Day tour comes to the Sheffield on 8 February. See you all in the steel city.

look at all events Go to our calendarlink

Things we've heard

read other articles Go to our newslink