Google Wave

Waveboard on OS X is a good way to start

I’ve been asked a few times now to do something with a bit more meat on Google Wave. Now, with previews being handed out left, right and center, more and more people are getting into Wave and not understanding 1. what it is & 2. How to use it. So I’ll try and help everyone out with this post.

Some context, first. I signed on to the beta program in August when Google announced they were going to do a gmail-style invite-only preview for their new product. I signed up and got nothing, but luckily a friend got in and invited me afterwards.

Now, a few months on, Wave is getting more and more users. Everyone’s talking about it, but no one knows what it is, it seems.

First off, I’ll explain what it is. It is NOT Twitter. It is NOT Facebook. It is NOT another social media outlet. Despite being discussed feverishly on social media outlets, it ain’t one of them. Google isn’t in that business, not yet anyway.

The user bar at the top of a wave shows who's able to see the current conversation

What it is, is a re-imagining of email and how we communicate on a basic level. In college during our Distributed Systems class, we’re constantly reminded to think of a system with the same rules as natural, human, dialogue. When we talk, you don’t have to complete a statement for the other party to understand what the outcome will be.

For example, in a negative tone in reference to a movie, I could say “I really, really, really, really…”, and at this point it’s safe to assume I’m about to continue with my lack of positive feelings on the movie. In natural conversation, two people don’t take turns to talk. When I speak, I don’t stop to let you speak, and vice versa. With more then two people, we don’t all take turns either. Everyone will talk until their point is made. Not in a rude manner, but natural dialogue doesn’t dictate I am the number 1 in this conversation, you are number 2, etc.

Emails does work this way. It’s a one-to-n (one to one, two, three, etc.) conversation, with a source and destination. No conversation flow and no natural dialogue. This is because email was designed with posting letters in mind.

Your inbox looks just like email

So, what does Wave do? Well, as you type, as long as I’m logged in and viewing, I can see what you type, letter by letter, as you type it. It also allows natural flow because as you type, I can type. These conversations can be formal or informal, but that is up to the flow of conversation.

Having said that, it is not a chat room either. You can still walk away from Wave and come back later today to reply to a message.

Also, just like natural dialogue, outside information can be introduced easily. If I’m talking about an image, I can drop it into the Wave (not a link, the image itself). Same for a video. I can drop a map into Wave and we can all collaborate, dropping pins on the map to discuss locations. One Wave I’ve been involved in is a collaborative effort with a few Dublin-based Wave users who are making a large map with restaurant locations.

The methods and rules of engagement are still unclear, but as more users get involved with Wave, the community at large will dictate this. I have had formal email-like conversations with people, but mostly it follows the routine where a user will write a formal proposal (“Hi all, lets discuss photography”), invite lots of users to the Wave and then we’ll have an informal discussion below.

A blip is an individual message

Click this bar to reply to a blip

A wave, incidentally is like an email. You have an inbox as per email, but each item in the inbox opens a wave. This is your communication room with one or more users. Your inbox will list all waves, and show you how many have been updated, and with how many blips (blips are each individual message sent by a user, whereas the wave is all of the blips collectively).

Each user gets an email-like username/address with which to send and receive waves. This, as usual with Google, is attached to your Google account. This is in username@googlewave.com format.

Standard Google design for your Wave

Wave’s also have tools that can be developed and added to a specific wave. For example, by adding a particular user to the wave, it can be made public (i.e. anyone can join in the conversation). Others will send messages from a Wave to your twitter account, update your computer when you receive a wave, etc.

So, is Wave good? Yes. It’s mind blowing technology. I can’t imagine how Googles servers can handle it. It has already proved useful with great collaborative discussions going on within Waves. It can be slow at the best of times, but it’s still in development – can’t expect it to do EVERYTHING right out of the gates.

Context menus inside Wave

Wave’s future depends entirely on how quickly Google can harness its power and turn the tide on email. Already you can get the API and install it on a private server, running a new wave service on a new domain. As of yet I haven’t seen two servers merge, so my @kevindowling.ie wave address can send messages to your @googlewave.com address, but this is likely to come later. Once this happens, it can kill email off.

Anyway, I hope this goes some way to explaining what wave is, and hopefully when you get it it’ll do wonders for you. My address is kev2501@googlewave.com (2501 being a reference to the “machine” in Ghost in the Shell, ironically), so send me a wave!