Google Wave Needs More Guides and Mentors

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I've been dipping my toes into Google Wave (GW) the last couple of weeks and found it to have massive potential yet very few people using it. I think the reason is that it's confusing them and they currently see no reason to use it.

Most of what I read is that it's a good collaborating tool ...but what else and how to do it? As of the moment, the best source for GW knowledge is Gina Trapani and Adam Pash's The Complete Guide to Google Wave. Other guides seem to be just taking from this resource--so better get it direct from them.

Regarding usages, besides being a collaborative tool it's a great way to communicate (not just chat) with online buddies--I think of it as an Instant Messenger on steroids. Just check out the vid below (Not safe for kids):



Yes, it is that and more! Instead of posting a link to a picture or a vid, people you chat with can actually see it there! You can do video chat as well!

Now the next problem is connected with the way people are confused with GW: the lack of the majority of people interested in using it. I think GW deserves to have some push coming from Google--unless they themselves don't know how to market it. It becomes a hard sell when it comes to replacing email because not everyone has one yet (it's still an invite-only site since it's still on Preview Phase) and there's still some bugs in the system (can't delete some blips, can't add some vids, etc.) that's stopping people from using it most of the time. Another problem is that some public waves are just out of control and the originators seem to have forgotten to do some forum-management.

Hopefully the Google Wave Team will be able to improve on GW and open it to everyone so other people can try it out. What this needs are more big name tech persons to use it extensively, like Jason Kolb, who recently went into GW and left his blog permanently.

If Google Wave fails then it fails, but if it succeeds--you never know how it will affect our online lives.

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