Google Wave: First Impression

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I've been playing around Wave for a week or so and I'm not sure I like it so far.

Sure, at first, I got all excited from getting an invite, then I realized it's just a really progressive messaging platform - or to be specific, simply a web-based instant messenger with real-time features. I can see the potential in this kind of service in the future, but overall, unless it offers the ability to change the settings, it will be hard to use.

Since we're talking about Google, it is probably just the tip of the iceberg in regards to this service, so therefore I'll refer to the issues from my experience so far.

Real-time annoyance:
Never in my life did I imagine that I wouldn't like real-time functionality, but in Wave, for perhaps the first time ever - I do. To see all of your friends' updates in real time (aka: Friendfeed, Brizzly, etc) is one thing, but to see your friends writing them all at the same time, that's a whole different story! I'm not sure I'll ever able to adjust to this form of communication... Also, in a discussion (whether it's one-to-one or many people) to see others' writings in real-time can sometimes be embarrassing, and lets face it: how many times have you written something then changed it in the last second before clicking the send button? Here you can do this too but be aware that people can and already are seeing what you meant to say or typed before you click 'done' - embarrassing!

Interface problems:
Wave is divided to several boxes that you can minimize or maximize. But the problem is that if you don't maximize the new wave window, you'll be missing some of extensions and gadgets that are the most fun part of this applications. This can be solved by a drop down menu (see screenshot), or by simply slightly increasing the size of the new wave box (by dragging the side panels)

Also, it feels unnatural to click on the 'done' button while chatting, instead of just hitting enter. I don't know if Wave will be similar to Gmail eventually, but right now, the "done" button is useless and not saving us any time.

Frankly, I think the whole 'new wave box' is cumbersome and not easy to function. Just in case you didn't notice, you can reply to someone by simple clicking enter. But for some reason, you can't edit your notes by clicking enter as well. Also, the way to delete a reply inside a wave is hidden, among other tools that might be useful if they where more visible (such as insert a private reply). Maybe it is just too complex. When I look at Friendfeeds' discussion threads, I think it's absolutely geniusly built, so easy to understand and function. I don't know what Google is trying to do here but it looks like they're mixing Email with Chat features, which turns out to not be the best combination...

Extensions as contacts:
It took me a while to understand the concept behind Wave extensions. But you can think about it like the social gadget at iGoogle - Instead of installing a gadget in iGoogle, then inviting people to join via email, you can invite people you want to share a gadget with through Wave. Overall, it is the same thing, with improved real-time conversation. Since iGoogle already has a massive collections of gadgets, you can use them in Wave as well (and in your Gmail BTW).

An odd thing though, is the applications you add as contacts, I'm still trying to figure this concept out - here are some examples:

Lets say I want to perform the simplest act of starring a wave (so it'll be easier to find later on), since Google is not enabling star a wave at the moment, I've added a bot-app called Starify that basically allows me to star a Wave. How? By adding the bot as a contact and then adding to each Wave I want to save (confused? yeah, me two).

Another example is Twitting from Wave. You have two ways to do it:

1. Add Tweety-bot to your contact list: tweety-wave@appspot.com and each time you want to tweet, add this contact to a new Wave (or open an old one)
2. Another way to do it is to open a new Wave, add a new gadget by URL: http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml and reuse this Wave each time you want to tweet.
   

Both ways are not appealing and I wish Google offered us a better way to tweet from this platform, sigh.

Bottom line, I'm not a happy Wave user, but it was quite an unusual ride so far. It will take me a while to get use to it, but first I want to see some new setting options from Google including:

• The ability to choose where and when to activate the real-time feature
• The ability to see who's online and to change my status the way I want too (online, offline, busy)
• The ability to block a person
• The ability to create groups

That's it for now - if you have something to add from your Wave experience, please write it in the comments below.

What is Google Wave? (the shorter version)


Also read Scoble's post about Wave - Google Wave crashes on beach of overhype