Ive been playing around with Google Wave for the past couple of days. And really, i cant say im that impressed. Maybe its because im not in a position to use it in a business situation, but everything seems so clunky and slow. And while i know everything is still in beta mode, it just seems so… Web 1.0.
I have an issue, that when i dont know what something does, i click everything on it to work it out. Unfortunately in Wave this creates a gazillion new messages to people, or lag my browser for a few seconds while it tries to catch up. And yeah, ok, so maybe i shouldn’t be a dumbass and click everything in sight. The fact that with one click i instantly send messages to people is incredibly annoying. I can delete the blank message, but if the person is on at the time they will realise that you clicked on them. Kinda like if i accidently click on someone through msn (It happens), aslong as i dont type then press enter they will never know.
Live chatting is also something that agitates me. I had a few friends on at one time to see how well it could handle multiple conversations. While everyone thinks seeing what your mate is typing (live) is the greatest thing since sliced bread. There are a few problems. 1, if you are using it as an email client, not an instant messenger, then there is no point in having live typing. 2. If your using it as an instant messenger, it drives you bat shit crazy with people replying before you have finished your sentence. I will be trying to finish off a question when the person im talking to will give me an answer that is only half complete. While you can see whether they have submitted the message yet or not, it’s pointless to have complete view of someone’s spelling mistakes, and yet not really be able to use the feature.
Outside of those two qualms. I think the main issue is the clunkyness. You really have to use it to get what i mean. But everything seems so un-responsive and stop start.
I think all issues come down to “Why the web platform?“. Google seems so intent to do everything through the internet, and are working towards “Cloud Computing”. But as it stands now, i really dont think you can do everything that people want nowadays through a typical Internet Browser. You can run Windows Outlook Express through a web interface, but you know what, no one does because it’s so damn clunky, even over a network. A browser just cannot keep up.
It kind of begs the question. Why not build your own “Browser” or application to interface google wave? O wait, its called Outlook Express, Thunderbird, MSN Messenger etc. Until a desktop wave interface comes out i cant see many people running it through a browser. Simply because of the stop start nature of everything.
I completely agree with most everything you said, except you’re missing something with what Google is trying for. Google realizes that current OS’ cannot support what they are aiming for, that’s why they are working on Chrome OS which is coming out very soon. Google is trying to push the envelope of current computing trends, and to that I give them kudos. Everything needs a bit of tweaking to reach (near) perfection.
There was a good article on Techcrunch, well actually it wasnt the article but the comments that were the most interesting. People were pointing out that with Chrome OS, if everything is on cloud computers, what if you dont have an internet connection? Maybe on holiday etc? You wont be able to do ANYTHING.
Here we have wireless coverage nationwide available via USB cards, I’d be very surprised if the area in the USA that you could not get reception was over 1% of the total landmass.
Sure the cloud is not going to be for everyone, but what it is more aimed at is the user who may need to use multiple computers while still being able to access their work. They are trying to allow Chrome OS computers to be completely secure to share.
I don’t see my grandma needing cloud computing, but I also do not see a future of computing without the cloud concept. What I’d be interested in is if you’d be able to run programs 24/7 on the cloud without being connected.