Google Wave

[FortNinety]

Hey, I'm finally in! And... I have zero idea what to do with it.

Anyone else on this thing?

[The Drunken Samurai]

im on google wave and i have no idea what its for either, but i get the idea that its email but stupider.


um,maybe we can send each other waves and figure this out by trial and error?

[Chairman Meow]

I've never felt so old and out of touch with technology before . . all I can say is what the hell?  Is the explanation video on Google's site really an hour and twenty minutes? 

I think I maybe kinda of do / don't get what it does, I just don't get the point.

[FortNinety]

I tried having a conversation with dongle, but I think I did something wrong almost immediately that killed the whole thing. I think?

Anyhow, here's a far shorter 10 minute video that I believe highlights that most important and useful points...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw

... Either that or the hour and twenty minute vid is truly is nothing but hot hair. Which wouldn't surprise me. These days they try to be Apple so badly that it's kinda hilarious, in terms of presentation and all that jazz. Though everyone's doing the same, but that's a whole different point...

Google Wave can be super useful in a work or similar collaborative environment, I would imagine. Otherwise... there's really no point. Also, to really maximize it's potential, you have to start using Google Docs I'd imagine, which are not the worst things in the world, but it doesn't help that it's evangelists are even more obnoxious than Apple zombies at times.

$20 says that Google gets bored with it like 90% of its products after 12 months. Orkut anyone?

[B coma]

Google docs, despite being crude in some ways, has actually saved my rear countless times at work when some computer could open X file because it either lacked MS Office or had the wrong version of it!

seems like the jury's out on Google Wave, I guess? I would like to mess with it though.

[FortNinety]

Make no mistake, I passionately HATE how ubiquitous MS Office, and a good deal of may day (since I'm essentially a blogger by trade these days) is dealing with all the retarded little quirks that's in your average Word document. I've tried my best to use alternatives, like Pages and Open Office, but none of them have sufficed, simply because the rest of the world uses Office, period. Something I get blue in face trying to explain to Mac zealots who don't understand why I don't use Pages exclusively. That and it just isn't as feature rich, obviously.

It's just that, and I think we all know such a person, who becomes a Google devotee at the workplace and uses every dumb opportunity to suggest that things would somehow be better if everyone shifted everything to Google Docs and Calendar, plus get rid of the corporate email accounts for Gmail. And no matter how valid this person might be, it's just annoying. I've encountered such people maybe 7 times btw, so it's not just one guy.

Another thing that drives me nuts about Google's tools, while I'm on the subject, is how they're all so tightly woven and you can't do a damn thing about it. Thankfully they're all minor, but it just annoys me how in Google Reader, along with the feeds you care about, it also serves you stupid articles that's been suggested by people you hardly know and have simply emailed enough to be in your recommended que. Turning that stuff off was harder than it should be.

Back to Wave though, I'm glad you can turn off the feature where everyone sees what you're typing at that very moment. The fact that Google is finally allowing you to turn something off for once is a big bonus. Plus there are a ton of tricks that seem pretty nifty, but you actually have to see the hour and twenty minute vid for the real details... I've only been able to get through the first thirty myself.

[FortNinety]

Does anyone know how to access Wave on the iPhone? Everywhere I look, it just says to hit wave.google.com via the mobile Safari browser, but I just end up hitting some info page about Wave. Help?

[FortNinety]

After a couple of days of playing around with Wave, and talking with others who have it, along with general research across the web... this guy sums it best (though I can't recall anyone claiming it to be a Twitter killer):

http://scobleizer.com/2009/10/01/google-wave-crashes-on-beach-of-overhype/

[Chairman Meow]

An invite fell into my lap, and my lack of internet savvy friends has become apparent.  Anyone wanna trade doodles via Wave?  Thats pretty much all I've been using it for, glorified Pictochat.  Hit me up at mcamis@googlewave.com

[FortNinety]

Finally someone to chat with via Wave? I haven't fired it up in a long whiles.

Get ready for drawing of anthropomorphic hots dogs!

[Chairman Meow]

Finally someone to chat with via Wave? I haven't fired it up in a long whiles.

Get ready for drawing of anthropomorphic hots dogs!

This is infinitely awesome because the first thing I did was start a wave with a drawing of a hot dog.

[isfet]

out of pure curiousity, Matt, do you have any invites to this vague new Google service that you could send my way?

[FortNinety]

I was actually gonna say that I'm sorry but I don't have any to give out, but just logged in for the first time in ages and whaddya know... invite sent!

[FortNinety]

BTW, if anyone wants one, just let me know!