Of all the commentary I've seen on Google's new wave technology, the best has been from Daniel Tenner. In a longish piece he argues why it isn't a replacement for social media or networking apps such as IM or Facebook. But rather it could solve some of the real problems with email, such as:
- Adding new people to the conversation (and them seeing the full view as all others)
- Keeping added people added
- Multiple conversation branches
He concludes:
It was never designed to appeal to the crowds of geeks who are currently trying it out. Wave is built for the corporate environment. It’s a tool for getting work done. And as far as those go, it’s an excellent tool, even at this very early stage.
If only I could try out in a work context with enough other 'wavers' to make it feasible to try his conclusions out ...