I love technology. I like gadgets, tools, robotics, automation, all kinds of neat stuff. I like things that make my job easier, and save me time.
That's why I loved Google Wave. But the folks at Google have decided to kill off Wave. What??? The next big thing dead after a 14 month preview. Not much time to preview a sea-change in communication.
What really killed Wave? The problem was simple, perhaps so simple the developers at Google missed it: Wave did not integrate with e-mail. OK, maybe a little, but only recently were wavers able to add an e-mail contact to a wave, and then the non-wavers sent a copy of the wave posts and an invite to join Wave. But it might take a while - maybe an hour. Huh? E-mail is nearly instantaneous, and Wave is real-time. What's up with that?
Wake up Google - do you want Wave to take over the world and change online communication as we know it? Make it work with e-mail too.
It's that simple - really.
Had developers and early adopters been able to use Wave as an e-mail client as well as for waving, and used the same @googlewave.com address for e-mail and waves, things would have turned out different. I mostly stopped using wave because everyone else is still using e-mail. Oh, I tried to convert people, and those that tried Wave liked it - "but why won't Wave work as e-mail too?" they asked me.
"They say it's coming soon," I would reply. But it never came.
To train hunting dogs, there are a few rules to help ensure a successful training session:
1. Never set your dog up to fail
2. If you find yourself getting mad at the dog, stop training; but don't give up - just come back to it later when you've calmed down.
3. Always finish a training session on a positive note.
And as much as I am a fan of all things Google, I think they broke all three of these rules, especially the first one - by not prioritizing Wave integration with e-mail, they set it up to fail.
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