Is the World Ready for Google Wave?

My friend Jon Yeo just sent me a Google Wave invite and I started experimenting with it.

Here’s a video explaining how Google Wave works:

I must say that the project has very exciting potential. However, in practice, I have found the user interface quite a challenge. Its not as intuitive as other Web 2.0 type apps that we’ve become accustomed to like Twitter for example. To be fair, this is the beta version and it is a very massive project.

Whether the world is ready for something this powerful, is anyone’s guess.

Some of the main features I am quite excited about are:

1. Ability to embed the entire “Wave” conversation into any website and have it work as a stand alone application. This is really powerful because it essentially allows Google Wave to work anywhere and not just on Google’s own website.

2. The ability to add “robots”. This feature together with the first features allows Google Wave to be the ultimate RSS publisher for example. I can add a Twitter or Facebook robot and publish all my Twitter and Facebook updates to my blog or any webpage or vice versa.

3. Real time multimedia collaboration makes this tool a very powerful brainstorming tool. I am already toying with the idea of getting say 5 of my smartest friends and business partners on Google Wave, creating a common topic of interest and then using all the features of Google Wave to have a massive brainstorming session.

The Verdict
Yes, I am excited about Google Wave. So far, playing with the beta features indicate that the concepts can work. However, the app is very far from being ready.

Also, I am not convinced that its ready for the “mass market”. I know tech geeks like myself will love using it but I wonder if the “masses” will take the time to learn and make use of this wonderful tool.

Time will tell.

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Tags: google wave, web 2.0