An observation in an earlier article got me to thinking about how Wave stacks up against more traditional Instant Messaging applications.
Wave is more immediate that traditional Instant Messaging, since seeing somebody typing in real time allows me to see what they are saying before they complete the full sentence. Of course, this could lead to problems as people jump to conclusions before a thought is finished, but so far, this seems to be a good thing.
The most important thing about Wave, which puts it head and shoulders over “traditional”instant messaging, is the fact that the conversations are retained, and easily searchable, while IM systems often have this feature (GoogleTalk does, for one), with wave it feels natural and integrated, rather than an afterthought.
The combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication is one of wave’s greatest strengths, since you can chat real time with a person, or simply type them a message for later, depending on time constraints, and what kind of thing you are in the mood for. You can even start typing a message, and if the person sees you, the exchange can turn into something far more immediate… It feels far more natural, at least to me.
Of course, for those of you that find yourself missing the old way, there is an extension that will allow more traditional Instant Messaging within Wave.
There has been a lot of debate about whether Google Wave will be the death of email as we know it. I still do not know about that, but I am sure it will be the death of Instant Messaging as we know it.
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I remember old Pow-wow, back in ‘94 or ‘95, had that real-time typing thing. It was kind of fun, but not really too useful; half the time, you were just watching someone correct their own typos. I’d much rather fine-tune what I want to say than have someone be misled by the messy first draft of my thoughts. This is why I prefer talking online so much more than in person.
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I’m a bit like you Chris. I feel like typing allows me to be a bit more thought out before I speak. With wave, people just watch me correct typos. I’m still not super in love with seeing people type although it does add a fun new element. Plus, I think Wave is a bit bulky to act as an IM client, which makes me think it won’t quickly replace traditional IM. This could just be me still resistant to change from my old ways. hah!
Google Wave is history. I think even Google has given up on it. It’s cumbersome and overly-complicated. We’re seeing Google now move back to email to add the “social” features that Google Wave was supposed to offer but instead use email as the platform instead of a system that requires everyone to be at the computer at the same time. I know Google Wave doesn’t require everyone to be there, but you may as well use email and do the same thing more efficiently and make it simpler.
Google Wave was an interesting experiment but I’m calling it dead.