Google Wave - 5 Things You Need to Know

The 5 Things You Need to Know about Google Wave

You may have heard some rumors by now about Google's new venture, Google Wave. But if you haven't been able to explore it first hand yet, here are 5 things you need to know:

1. Email as we know it may be on its way out the door. The format of Wave provides extreme flexibility in its use. You can use it just like traditional email with some extra bonus features. Or you can incorporate multiple people into a conversation thread at any point and have the entire conversation history available to them without needing to forward anything. You can use it as a virtual conference room, where multiple invited users can collaborate and share ideas in real time. Or you can use it as a public forum/chatroom where anyone can add their thoughts over time.

2. No more screen changes. One of the best features of Wave (IMO) is that everything happens within one browser window and there is no need to change pages or reload information. On Facebook (and others) you have to leave one friend's profile to go view another's. On Wave, everything is on one screen right in front of you, all the time. Even in traditional email you have to either open a new window to reply to a message or at the least you are sent to a new page if you use web based mail. In Wave, your replies happen right on the page as you're looking at it. In fact, everything happens so simultaneously in Google Wave that you are actually able to watch as people type their messages (so practice your typing skills!). This adds a new conversational element that so far has not been seen in online communication. Rather than most instant messenger programs where you see the "so and so is typing" message while you wait for their reply, Google has made that typing visible to you as it is happening. It becomes more like a phone conversation where you can know how you want to respond before the other person is done talking. (Note: you can make your typing invisible if you don't like being watched)

3. Conversation playback. Yes, you already have the ability to track the history of your email conversation by scrolling through the thread, but Google has taken this a step further. They have turned that thread upside down, made it disappear, then created a playback button so you can watch the entire conversation unfold in the order it all happened. In traditional email you would have to scroll to the bottom of an email thread, then read backward through the conversation to get to the present (if you are lucky enough to have the whole conversation still intact on the thread!). Google's playback feature fixes that problem once and for all.

4. Go public or keep it private. In Wave, as opposed to traditional email, you have the ability to make your thoughts and information viewable by the general public or only to those you choose to invite. Public Waves are searchable much like Google's famous search engine, so you can find (and join) conversations about almost anything. On the flip-side, if you are sharing sensitive information you still have the ability to control who is invited to read it. Private waves are not searchable to everyone, only to those who are involved in them. Just be aware though, before you post anything you wouldn't want to be seen, anyone you invite to join your Wave can in turn invite others (who can then use the playback feature to see exactly what has been said). One nice feature around the public vs. private topic is the ability to post private replies within a public or multi-participant wave. If you join a public Wave, or any Wave with multiple participants, and you want to comment in private to someone else in the Wave you can do that right within the same Wave, and nobody else can see it.

5. The sky is the limit. Google decided to roll out its product slowly and started by allowing web developers to play with it and begin designing new applications that will cooperate with Wave. There are some very interesting tools being developed and perfected so that when Wave is released for public use the kinks will hopefully be worked out. For now however, there are still some issues with various features and with compatibility on different browsers, etc. But, because Wave is still in the initial stages, the direction it will go is somewhat unknown. It will be defined by the creativity of its users, and that is where the genius lies. The door has been left open for you and I to decide how we want to use these new tools.

I have to say that from a marketing standpoint, Google has been brilliant in their release of Wave. They are releasing it slowly enough that the demand is quickly building, and when it is finally available to everyone it should take off very quickly. So, even if you don't have access yet you may want to take the time to learn about it so you can hit the ground running!