

So I finally tried Wave... - mrduncan
http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2009/11/so-i-finally-tried-wave.html

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riffer
I love this guy:

 _If you want to learn more about Wave, I would start there and skip this
post_

His point that the product must be in a very early stage of development
because it apparently hasn't gone though the process where marginal features
are winnowed is fantastic orthogonal thinking.

~~~
wtallis
It's also surprising when you realize how rarely that assumption holds true.
Far too many applications ship several versions without ever getting rid of
the features that should never have been there in the first place. It's a
testament to Google's reputation for quality (and long betas) that we feel we
can safely assume that the marginal features will be removed or improved in a
timely fashion.

~~~
johns
Is there some history of this actually happening at Google? I can't recall any
big products that have shed features. My recollection is obviously limited,
but I'd love to hear of some examples. Shuttering whole products/services
doesn't count to me.

~~~
aerique
Well, for one, the man himself gave Gmail as example.

~~~
bumblebird
It didn't sound like Gmail was made public with the features. Sounded like
they were removed before it went public.

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mojuba
My impression from Wave was the same: the hierarchical structure turns "waves"
into an unmaintainable mess too easily and too quickly. I find the user
interface a bit counter-intuitive and cluttered too.

Whatever Paul feels about Wave, he actually makes a couple of clever
suggestions Wave's team, I think, should listen to: make it (optionally?)
linear and also build the wave-to-email gate. These two things are more
important for Wave at the moment than anything else.

If Paul built Wave it'd probably be in a more usable state now, wouldn't it?

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andreyf
Most insightful and original bit is at the end: _I don't know what Google has
planned for Wave or Gmail, but if I were them I would continue improving Wave,
and then once it's ready for the whole world to use, integrate it into Gmail.
Moving Wave into Gmail would give it a huge userbase, and partially address
the "email is universal" problem. They could use MIME multi-part to send both
a non-Wave, HTML version of the message, and the Wave version. Wave-enabled
mail readers would display the live Wave, while older mailers would show the
static version along with a link to the live Wave._

~~~
tumult
That's not insightful. You can't use Wave like that. It's technically an
impossibility. Guy has no clue what he's talking about, just like every other
armchair reviewer of Wave.

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mark_l_watson
I like his response.

re: Wave itself: I am more enthusiastic about Wave as a platform (custom
robots for back end processing, gadgets) for software development.

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amichail
_I'm not sure if this is because I have an obligation to try all new products,
or because my views on the longevity of email will seem hopelessly naive once
I try Wave, but either way, I mustn't disappoint the good people of TechCrunch
:)_

I think what's implied is much worse than that actually... namely that Paul
would rather not have Google Wave eclipse GMail. And for that reason, he
didn't even want to look at it.

~~~
NathanKP
I don't think that Google Wave will replace GMail for a while.

For on thing, it contradicts the theory of "do the simplest thing that
possibly works." Google Wave is great for collaboration and group work and
game playing. However, when it comes to replacing email it is too bloated I
think. Of course they will probably speed it up and simplify as it develops.

Also there will always be a market for a simple email client, if only for the
simple reason that not everyone wants the entire world to see that they can't
type very well.

It is more professional to send a completed email then to have the recipient
see you typing in realtime complete with misspellings, clumsy typing, and
grammar errors.

That is the main impression that I have with Google Wave. Everyone watching a
wave can see me type so I have to be more careful rather than just typing then
looking it over before hitting "Reply".

~~~
ThinkWriteMute
The "see me type" thing is a feature you can turn off.

~~~
NathanKP
Thanks for telling me. I'll have to dig through the settings and find it.

~~~
jvdh
It's not in the settings, it's the "draft" tick box at the bottom of the
textbox.

~~~
sdp
That "draft" tick box has been grayed out for me since I got into Wave.

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fjabre
Definitely not a ringing endorsement..

I do like his idea at the end but I think it would make more sense for Gmail
to be integrated into Wave instead of vice-versa.. Integrating back into Gmail
seems awkward at best..

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Locke1689
I'm a little confused about his description of linear vs nonlinear. Maybe it's
because I haven't tried Wave yet.

P.S. If anyone has any invites available, my email is in my profile ;)

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sharksandwich
Sent you one. I have a few more if anyone else wants one - send me an email

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diN0bot
btw - i think you won't receive the invite until the next "wave" of users. i'm
guessing they're staggering users with product iteration.

almost everyone i talk to says: this is cool, but none of my friends are on
it. maybe google is addressing this with different circles of folks, but from
where i'm standing it seems like they could have forced a better distribution
of invites.

~~~
NathanKP
Actually invites are going out quite quickly at least from what I have seen. I
received one about two weeks ago, only about a day after it was requested for
me by another user.

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diN0bot
nice response. i didn't realize there were bloggers out there who could be
calm and informative.

