Review: Google Wave

Google Wave

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A screenshot showing Google's Wave email program.

A screenshot from Google Wave.

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Okay, I've participated in my first Google Wave and my noodle is officially baked.

Google sent out a fresh round of Google Wave invites this week, some of which went to journalists. Each account comes with a mere eight invitations, so they're going to be a precious commodity for a while.

Even when you send someone an invite they don't get it straight away, so it means you've initially got very few people to Wave to - I guess just like first few people who bought fax machines.

Creating a new Wave is simple enough, just click New Wave and a fresh window opens on the right of the screen. You can start typing straight away, with basic formatting options as well as the ability to attach files. Photo thumbnails appear within a few seconds of starting an upload.

You can also insert content from Google searches, or gadgets such as a Yes/No/Maybe poll.

Adding someone to a Wave is simple, just click the plus button next to your profile photo at the top of the Wave. You can search for people using their gmail address, or add people from your address book. I kept typing in the gmail addresses of other journos I know until I struck a few that didn't return "[username] could not be found".

I think the search feature is still a bit buggy, as I couldn't find a few people who I'm sure are on there. Shoutouts go to Dan at APC and Danny at Australian Macworld for stepping through the looking glass to help me test out Google Wave.

As soon as you add someone else to a Wave things start to spiral out of control. I found myself using it like an instant messaging system, because that's what it feels it, but I suspect over time people will establish Google Wave etiquette and find the best way to use it.

The biggest problem is that, because you can see what the other person is typing, word by word if not letter by letter, you tend to talk over the top of each other. You can see a small coloured icon with their user name in it, ahead of the text as they type.

Each thread within a Wave is known as a Wavelet, and each individual message within a Wavelet is known as a Blip. Replying to a Blip creates a new Wavelet - a bit like the comments systems on some blogs.

Naturally you start replying as soon as you've guessed what the other person is trying to say. At the point you're actually missing what each other person is saying because you're either looking at the keyboard or what you're typing (unless you're a touch typist, I guess). It's like everyone talking at once and no-one actually listening. It's awkward with two participants, but I think it would be complete chaos with more.

Google Wave's non-linear nature also makes it incredibly difficult to carry on a conversation. Unlike IM, the Wave doesn't scroll up as you type. That means that the other person might be typing somewhere else in the conversation and you don't realise.

To make things more complicated, you can reply to each Blip within a Wave so after a while you find yourself dealing with nests of threaded Wavelets that are out of chronological order.

It's easy to lose track of each other and you find yourself scrolling through the Wave in search of the other person's icon. If they're not currently typing, it's impossible to tell at a glance what was the last thing said.

Each wavelet has a time stamp on it, but there's no way to put them in chronological order or easily find what was the last thing said. You can replay a Wave, but it's a long and tedious process if you're dealing with a long conversation.

You can also edit other people's Blips, but it doesn't mark the fact you made the change - which makes it possible to put words in someone else's mouth. You can detect this by replaying the Wave, as the comments are highlighted, but most people wouldn't bother to do this. Even replaying a Wave can make it hard to follow if people were typing at the same time, responding to each other's comments IM style without starting a new Blip.

It would be helpful if each Wave participants' icon glowed to show they were currently involved in the conversation, with the ability to click on their icon and jump to their most recent comment. As it is, it's just too hard to follow what's going on - but that's just because we're all still figuring out how to use it. I suspect it will be more useful as a Wiki-style medium, editing an existing document such as a shared contact list, rather than as a real time chat.

Considering we've already got IM, email and Google Docs I'm not sure exactly where Google Wave fits into the picture. It's the classic example of a solution looking for a problem. That's not to say that it's worthless or that I don't like it, just that it will take time for people to get their heads around Google Wave and discover the best way to use it.

As an experiment, I've pasted this post into a Google Wave. If you've using Wave, look me up at adamturner (dot) au (at) gmail.com and I'll add you to the Wave. I'm interested to see how Google Wave might work as a publishing platform and commenting system - although the fact peopel can edit the original text is obviously a risk. Interesting times.

- © Fairfax NZ News