I used Wave for a while, and I can understand why it never caught on. It could serve the functions of email, instant messenger, or a live demo or (ugh!) “webinar” … but it was never the ideal solution for any of them. It was also incredibly resource-intensive with large numbers of people on a Wave, which is a bummer, because sharing information to large groups in real time, with the replay saved for sharing later, was Wave’s strong suit.
Because Wave never really replaced anything, and we never stopped using Gmail or Google Talk, the only major effect this shutdown has is freeing up creative Google personnel to move on to the next big thing. Whether you loved or hated Wave, you have to admit it was ambitious. I’m looking forward to seeing what the creators come up with next.Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1 originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Re: Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1
I was arguing on the very fact from the day i got google wave invite. There were guys, who were getting crazy about it but i was always like .. “its not gona be a communication meidum” ..
I am a potential user of Wave, I have been using it at daily basis and running like number of waves simultaneously even then .. I hate IT!
we friends discuss number of stuff. Movies, Technologies and our life updates (since we friends are at every single corner of world). All of them like Wave so i had no choice but to use it!
Re: Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1
I’ve actually experienced a couple of successful use cases for Google Wave, but I agree that it wasn’t the medium for the masses - perhaps, a little ahead of its time… or may be targeted wrongly at the masses instead of niche end-users. Whatever the case may be… c’est la vie.
We all are at different time zones. So most of the time, when i am online, they are not and when they are .. I am not online.
Secondly, there were few features which were really helpfl in Wave for such discussions, like we can reply to any previously written message which will appear just beneath it (unlike emails).
The bbiggest issue that i raised at Google Wave was legal issue.
In todays world, when IT communication is the main medium and online communication can become your legal proof for different cases. Wave, failed at this particular fact, miserably. This was my biggest reason that it can never be a communication medium in professional environment. (the mentioned problem is just one example). you can edit any wave. it has no track record. The communication is stored “at central server rather on companies servers”. These are big concerns when you want to apply laws based on IT proofs.
Secondly, if i assume that there are no legal issues. The other biggest problem was “SMTP” protocol that was ruling the world from ages. Okay, I admit that its hard to accept change but at the same time, we gotta look at the fact that a change, which is being popped up by an Internet Giant “Google”, which has an “aim” of ruling the internet market. Would its competitors like Microsoft, Yahoo let the SMTP die and let Google rule the market? Though, the Wave was an open source platform but still it was aiming at Microsoft Outlook (one of the most used application).
Google might have done it in a better way, the way it is trying to out class microsoft outlook by Google Apps (Gmail) but all of sudden, such a big chance. Not possible.
Re: Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1
^ Re: the legal issues you’ve highlighted, my understanding was that Wave indeed allows you to playback the formation of the wave in its entirety… so actually, it might work well for communication use cases where an audit trail is required. Re: control over content and servers, last year, Google announced that it would provide the technology for in-house installations and maintenance in a year or so after the beta/preview was done. I suppose the lack of interest at enterprise level may be one reason why they’re shelving the service.
I agree with your stance on their marketing strategy… they were a little too ambitious. At the end-user level, the majority just wasn’t ready for this (yet). At an enterprise level, it would take enormous effort to get a critical mass of customers to switch or complement their investments in their existing email communication infrastructures.
Re: Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1
^ Google wave is an open source and Google has plans to provide the technology for in-house installation. But you have to think it in little depth.
As i mentioned in my last post, the basic concept of Google wave was the communication was being stored in “central” server i.e. the infomation was not being exchanged among the servers unlike in smtp protocol.
Now imagine, an organization which has implemented google wave inside the organization. It will have full control on the communication and it can even modify the “playback” of the communication, Why? because it was being hosted and managed within the organization. Imagine, a person within an organization file a lawsuit against the organization. And organization presents the proof from google wave from within the organization. How strong would that hold in the case? (this is just a raw example i made up, the same example could be used against SMTP). But it gives you an idea about my point.
However, in other case. Whatever communication is done it is “transferred” to the client server i.e. the control is now to the client or lets say “receiver” and it remains on the receiver end. unlike in wave where the control is in center.
Re: Google Wave dies of acute unpopularity at age 1
I believe that if the company (from your example) did present evidence from the Wave server it would be just as acceptable as from an email server.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the usage scenario of Wave. Google killed it because the technology just didn’t attract enough smart users (approx. 1 million strong is not enough for Google).
As I mentioned before, all the testing and beta testing have been finished. They are using parts of the Wave in other areas with real time collaboration in current and future products.
but I like google strategy.. to try it and then close it early if it doesnt work.. 
kuch yaad aaya 
