Google Wave Makes Collaboration Simple
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 8:39AM I found a new invite in my email inbox this morning, to join Google Wave. Finally, a chance to check out this cool new service from Google. Let's see what all the hype is about! Google Wave is still in private beta, however, I'm able to give out 8 invites. If you would like an invitation, add your comment & I will send you one.
Google Wave Explained
Google Wave from Wikipedia standpoint is a personal communication and collaboration tool. It is designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. Google explains a wave as being both conversation & a document, where you can discuss & collaborate together using richly formated text, photos, videos, maps & much more. The much more part is where developers come in (similar to the iphone apps). Google Wave is open source, so expect a ton of applications that you will be able to "one-click" add to your wave, in the near future.
There is no limit to the imagination, as to how you can use Google Wave. It is a communication tool. So the next time you send your colleagues an email, you might think, hmmm...maybe we can do this better in a Wave. There is also a very nice playback feature, which shows you exactly who said what & when. Do you ever get lost in a thread of emails, or even miss a reply? I think this is part of the frustration, why Google Wave was developed.
Google Wave Solutions
Some suggested examples from Google, when to use a Google Wave:
Organizing Events
Keep a single copy of ideas, suggested itinerary, menu and RSVPs, rather than using many different tools. Use gadgets to add weather, maps and more to the event.
Meeting Notes
Prepare a meeting agenda together, share the burden of taking notes and record decisions so you all leave on the same page (we call it being on the same wave). Team members can follow the minutes in real time, or review the history using Playback. The conversation can continue in the wave long after the meeting is over.
Group Reports & Writing Projects
Collaboratively work in real time to draft content, discuss and solicit feedback all in one place rather than sending email attachments and creating multiple copies that get out of sync.
Brainstorming
Bring lots of people into a wave to brainstorm - live concurrent editing makes the quantity of ideas grow quickly! It is easy to add rich content like videos, images, URLs or even links to other waves. Discussion ensues. Etiquettes form. Then work together to distill down to the good ideas.
Photo Sharing
Drag and drop photos from your desktop into a wave. Share with others. Use the slideshow viewer. Everyone on the wave can add their photos, too. It is easy to make a group photo album in Google Wave.
Google Wave Demo
This is a great demo of Google Wave. Learn more about some of the suggested solutions, and what you can do with Google Wave.
I'm still trying to confirm or verify if Google Wave will be included as another app for Google Apps customers. If so, this would a compelling reason to evaluate Google Apps for your business. Contact us at Batipi, to learn more about using Google Apps within your business.
David Corcoran
Just found this interesting blog post by Paul Buchheit, who was the creator & lead developer on gmail. Paul gives his review of Google Wave, and how it could potentially co-exist with email.
Reader Comments (2)
I've watched all the videos/ demo's of wave and I can't wait for it to be publicly available. I feel it's truly going to revolutionize communication. As for the business impact, has anyone been able to compare this to the offering from Acrobat.com, they also offer the real-time collaboration on documents. When you request a Wave account (and you're an apps user), they do ask if you're willing to roll it out to your entire organization. I'm hoping that implies it will be integrated within apps and docs.
Would be honored if you'd share one of your invites with me!
Hi Abe, my impression of Arobat.com, is more inline with what Google Docs can do. The Wave combines multiple comments, documents, multi-media, into essentially one document, which is your wave doc.
I sent you an invite (which I thought was instant), however, it looks like it may still take some time....response from Google:
"Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with, so please nominate people you would like to add. Keep in mind that this is a preview so it could be a bit rocky at times.
Invitations will not be sent immediately. We have a lot of stamps to lick. "
Let me know once you receive.