It’s no secret that Google has been striving for a few years now towards the cloud computing initiative. That is, Google has been developing data-central, cohesive, and collaborative computing experiences. Google’s latest initiative, somewhat oddly dubbed “Wave”, is a new open-source web-based application that will take that initiative to a whole new level.
Wave, designed by Lars and Jens Rasmussen, is designed to “reinvent” the way we communicate online and is intended as a replacement for typical e-mail and instant messaging. Although still in its early stages, this new system blends many forms of communication together to create a unique but still very familiar feeling. The central tenet behind Wave is to shift the onus from the method by which we communicate to the conversation itself. That is, any conversation can be viewed as an object to which certain parties are privy and the actual method (be it IM, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail) should be irrelevant.
That probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, until you see the video (search Google Wave on Youtube – it should be the first video and it’s 1 hour 20 minutes long). Each conversation is hosted on a centralized server with real-time updates as you’re typing. So, for example, suppose I wanted to arrange a trip to Las Vegas with a friend of mine. I’d go to Google Wave and select the appropriate contact which would display if he’s online or offline. If he’s offline, he’ll get the message when he signs in much like an e-mail or IM. If he’s online, then as I’m typing the message, it gets displayed, character by character, on his screen. Then he can respond to either my full message or just parts of it.
So for example, suppose my message was:
“Hey, I’m looking to go to Vegas this Saturday. Of course, you know, we’ll make it big this time. You looking to come as well?”
He could then respond with a format that looks like this:
“Me: Hey, I’m looking to go to Vegas this Saturday. Of course, you know, we’ll make it big this time.
Him: Yeah, right. That’s what you said the last time you wasted your paycheck!
Me: You looking to come as well?
Him: Sure, I could use the break from work!”
As you can see the conversation gets split up and communication starts to become more efficient, blending many of the best aspects of instant messaging with the convenience of e-mail. It’s hard to convey as text, which is why I’d strongly recommend that you watch the first little bit of the video. Although I can say that it looks really impressive (save of course for the obvious privacy issues that are inherent with any centralized solution).
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: Central Tenet, Centralized Server, E Mail, Facebook, Familiar Feeling, Forms Of Communication, Google, Jens Rasmussen, Lars, Onus, Open Source Web, Search Google, System Blends, Time Updates, Trip To Las Vegas, Twitter, Video Search, Web Based Application, Whole Lot, Youtube
