Messaging & Collaboration - eWeek

Messaging & Collaboration: Top 10 Complaints About Google Wave


Google Wave, the search engine giant's real-time collaboration platform, began rolling out to 100,000 new users Sept. 30 as an extended preview. The platform combines e-mail, instant messaging and wiki-like document and file sharing with social networking features. Many of those new users included luminary bloggers such as Robert Scoble, and the early reports are rolling in. It's too early to judge Wave yet, but it's clear that the HTML 5-based platform has a number of issues that need to be addressed, from missing features to concerns about Wave's infrastructure. But perhaps the biggest challenges are the learning curves associated with using Wave—it's quite chaotic—as well as the potential for crashing users' productivity parties. eWEEK runs down the issues here.
 
  • Top 10 Complaints About Google Wave
    by Clint Boulton
  • Don't Believe the Hype
    Wave is not the new killer Internet application. It is not a replacement for Twitter, FriendFeed or Facebook. It's instant messaging and distributed editing in real time—collaboration on steroids, perhaps, but not the new Twitter.
  • It's Total Chaos!
    If you've used Wave, then this is just preaching to the choir. Imagine being able to see what multiple writings at the same time looks like—several cursors zipping across the screen. Instead of the one-to-one communications mode of IM, Wave is many-to-many.
  • Learning Curve
    Because Wave is so confusing, it will take some time for people to learn how to use it. This isn't like Twitter, where you can pick up and just run with it. Reading, grokking and working in Waves will take time. Users will have to exhibit patience.
  • Socially Inept
    The "social" features in Wave are lacking. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn and other social sites, you can't see profile biographies or real names, or even manage Wave users and group them. It's one, big free-for-all. This wouldn't work for a project management effort.
  • Chaos Breeds Confusion
    While we're learning how to Wave, we're all going to be really unproductive. Scoble was spot on. This chaos can lead to serious productivity breakdowns. Moreover, unlike e-mail, new Wave content can appear deep down in the in-box.
  • What?! No Draft Mode?
    Welcome to Wave's Wild West, where everyone is typing at the same time. Wave needs a draft mode so you can type without people seeing you. This will eliminate the distracting cursor pulses.
  • You Don't Need Permission
    Anybody can become a Wave contact without permission. In other words, if someone has your user IDs, they can add you to Wave. That needs to change. There need to be permissions.
  • Where's the Sheriff?
    Not only are there no permissions, but once a Wave is released to the wild, there is no control over it, no one to manage it. Wave might benefit from some Wikipedia-type editorship.
  • Document Format Is XML, Not HTML
    Some geeks take issue with the fact that the document format in Wave is based on XML, not HTML so everyone can display it. This will make it more challenging for developers to build other presentation layers on top of the Wave platform.
  • Greed Is Not Good
    People are actually bidding on eBay over Wave invites. That's right. When asked why, eWEEK was informed that it's a developer thing. The first programmers to learn about Wave can win the race to build the most useful apps on it. Unhealthy competition?
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