Google Wave killed, drifts into the sunset

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Google today announced plans to discontinue Google Wave, its real-time communication and collaboration platform that launched only a few short months ago. Initially hailed as an "email killer," we were quite intrigued when we first laid eyes on Wave last year. So much in fact, that two TechSpot staff members purchased early invites on eBay to check it out.

As fascinating as the service was, we didn't use it beyond a few brief sessions. Why that is, I'm not sure. Perhaps it was just too great of a paradigm shift, or it simply didn't meet our needs. No matter the case, it seems we weren't the only ones to abandon Wave amid waning curiosity. Google officially blames the project's death on a lack of user adoption.

Although development has halted, the company says it will maintain the site "at least" through the end of the year. Additionally, it's creating tools to let users easily "liberate" their content from Wave. Core parts of the code are already available as open source if you'd like to pick up where Google left off. Love it or hate it, say your piece in the comments.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/39876-google-wave-killed-drifts-into-the-sunset.html

 

[Guest]

Very sad to see Google Wave go. Such a great tool for real-time team collaboration, especially when the team members are spread out over large areas, but are still working simultaneously..

Jon

 

[oldikes]

itd be great to see them release the FULL source code..

 

[Guest]

Now if only Facebook dies too, the world can revert back to it's former glory of face-to-face socialization

 

[Julio Franco]

Maybe if Wave had evolved as a collaboration tool first and then as a broader collaboration tool... It's a shame really, the service appeared to have some potential but looking back the initial hype was too big to satisfy anyone.

 

[gamerex]

Very sad, it'd be great if only they maybe had popularized it more. I haven't heard of it until now and would probabely have been a prospective user.

 

[yukka]

The only times I used it, it became obvious that it was "cool" but a complete timesink without creating strict rules particularly at work.

 

[Guest]

I disagree about why it died. I think it died because the explanation of what it was and what it could do was poor. I think it died because people tried it without knowing what it was really designed for. I think it died because the people in charge of introducing it didn't respond to the slow adoption speed and confusion about what it was all about. And lastly, I think it died because--in the absence of help getting going--people sat and waited for it to "do" something--not realizing at all that it really doesn't come into its own until it's populated by those who want to accomplish a complex task without face-to-face meetings.

I look forward to the next gen. Paris Finley, Daily Hampshire Gazette

 

[windmill007]

It died because everyone is on facebook and unless facebook destroys itself .. anything that competes will just eventually die. These new products need to integrate with facebook or face the consequences. Google needs to face the facts. They can't have everything

 

[captaincranky]

It's a shame really, the service appeared to have some potential but looking back the initial hype was too big to satisfy anyone.

And who do you call on but Google, to deliver "hype" that's "too big"....? Wait, I know this answer, it's coming to me, ah got it...., Steve Jobs...!

Adoption for this service really must have been piss poor, since it's hard to imagine Google abandoning anyplace where they could cull more user's personal information, or embed more "targeted" advertising.

 

[Guest]

It's a real shame. The real-time multi-user apps supported by wave have a great future. We have a Google Wave travel-planner called "Travel WithMe",
and people love the real-time experience.

Sensing that wave might not be going places, we've put it on facebook now as well, but still with Google Wave's realtime features. It's at apps.facebook.com/travel-withme.

 

[DelJo63]

I disagree about why it died. I think it died because the explanation of what it was and what it could do was poor. I think it died because people tried it without knowing what it was really designed for. I think it died because the people in charge of introducing it didn't respond to the slow adoption speed and confusion about what it was all about. And lastly, I think it died because--in the absence of help getting going--people sat and waited for it to "do" something--not realizing at all that it really doesn't come into its own until it's populated by those who want to accomplish a complex task without face-to-face meetings.

I look forward to the next gen. Paris Finley, Daily Hampshire Gazette

The whole point of Wave was a group effort to create collaboration tools; it did very little without new Java code from the contributors which would operate like Firefox add-ons; drop one into the wave and you get a new feature. As Java is not trivial to write and the kids withonly scripting ability could not participate ... slow to no growth quickly lead to D.O.A quiet sad

 

[captaincranky]

The whole point of Wave was a group effort to create collaboration tools; it did very little without new Java code from the contributors which would operate like Firefox add-ons; drop one into the wave and you get a new feature. As Java is not trivial to write and the kids withonly scripting ability could not participate ... slow to no growth quickly lead to D.O.A quiet sad

So you're saying that Google couldn't get enough people to write free software for them then...?

Was that too harsh...? I didn't mean to hurt poor Google's feelings

 

[DelJo63]

So you're saying that Google couldn't get enough people to write free software for them then...?

Guess that's one way to look at it.

OpenSource operates on that same principle; good people working together.
Keeping the momentum and interest frequently becomes problematic.

 

[captaincranky]

OpenSource operates on that same principle; good people working together.

I couldn't agree with this more. I always stand in awe and gratitude of someone laboring on a program, then sharing it out of the goodness of their heart. I do disagree with Google trolling for free development of something that will turn into a money maker for them.

It's sort of a fine line, the distinction between donating talent to worthwhile endeavors like Linux, some of which will likely end up in commercial hands, and handing over your intellectual property to Google, for a pat on the head.

I have a muy bad attitude, sorry.

 

[oldikes]

Guest said:
I disagree about why it died. I think it died because the explanation of what it was and what it could do was poor. I think it died because people tried it without knowing what it was really designed for. I think it died because the people in charge of introducing it didn't respond to the slow adoption speed and confusion about what it was all about. And lastly, I think it died because--in the absence of help getting going--people sat and waited for it to "do" something--not realizing at all that it really doesn't come into its own until it's populated by those who want to accomplish a complex task without face-to-face meetings.

I look forward to the next gen. Paris Finley, Daily Hampshire Gazette

THIS. the way i heard it, it was some social networking site thing. other people say it was for stuff like collaboration, or just an alternative to email.
i logged in once, a few months ago, and never again. Mostly because of the horrible advertising, not one person i knew used it.

 

[DelJo63]

see the comment flow on the Computerworld Article

REAL interesting that CW author wrote an article and didn't understand the concepts
:LOL: and she gets nailed in the replies

 

[Guest]

honestly... I used twice and it was way too confusing... conversations sucked. I just didn't find where to look at... it needed to be simple if they wanted to achieve tons of users.

 

[DelJo63]

and that's the problem with public access to a work in progress without a clear definition of
intent and usage -- q.e.d.: it died a premature death.

 

[Guest]

Google Wave is dead, but Wave is alive and well at http://wavelook.com

We have:
- Wave integrated into Outlook (available today)
- Wave web app (coming soon, sign up for beta)
- Wave server (coming soon)

if you need anything else, please let us know: support@wavelook.com

 

[Guest]

The problem is people thought is was a bungled IM app to begin with. They really did not understand how useful wave is or what is it for.

It is like 10,20 people all looking at the same email. Now multiple recipients in email make comments and it gets really messy to follow once it has been to 2 or 3 people. Also someone does not bother to reply, someone feels obliged to reply because it is in their inbox. Anyway email can get really messy and sometime the message is lost.


Wave is just fk'in awesome. We have moved our whole company into wave using it with several offices spread over Europe. People work on one document and there is a lot more focused communication that make a CONCISE set of objectives or decisions on a subject.


My inbox is empty now, I can go away for a week and instead of having a trillion mails to answer. With wave others have responded and sorted problems out that may have need my input as boss.

Wave saves time, is far cooler than email and really makes your company more efficient. If I have to go back to email it is going to be a sad day.

Keep Google Wave, Google!

 

[anmont]

I loved Google Wave, but honestly haven't used much it since it's launch because most of the people I know didn't actually grasped what it was for.

It had the potential to really change the way people communicate, but in my opinion it failed in many ways.

It showed off all its features at once, which confused less tech savvy users. It could have started as a simple e-mail replacement, and roll out features gradually. Some form of integration with Gmail would had been nice, also.

Google should have allowed people to register any email account, not everyone in the world has a Google account or uses Gmail daily, and many people are put off by the simple task of opening one.

Google should have advertised it more. Other than people that work in the industry no one knew about it. I've seen poster about Google Chrome in my gym, and it was the last place I would have looked for one, which shows that Google knows how to make a product known. They just decided not to, which is sad.

 

[Guest]

I am not surprised at this. When the Wave first debuted, I was like, what the heck is this good for? Why do I need this? I don't get it. Maybe I'm missing something here? Do people know something I don't, becasue this seems useless. So this pretty much vindicates my initial impression.

 

[jakeshjo1953]

Guest said:
Now if only Facebook dies too, the world can revert back to it's former glory of face-to-face socialization

I guess opinions are just for opinionated people. Face to Face is great if you can actually be face to face. But, when you are halfway or further away from a loved one and FaceBook is available say like from the U.S. to Afganistan, then it becomes a great blessing to be able to communicate to your loved ones in the Service of their country. I hope Facebook is always a live and doing well. Since I haven't had a job in ten years because of an injury on the job. Talk seems to be cheaper all the time these days. Grattitude is a different matter all together.

 

[Guest]

Didn't get much out of Wave at first but on a second look things started clicking & now rely heavily on it. Not only good for group collaboration but also very useful for keeping track of your stuff across multiple email accounts. Try running it in the integrated gmail extension for firefox for even better um, integration.

Hope Gen.2 has all the goodies but fear it will be to 'socially' oriented - Google ME a break. Personally don't care about a facebook killer - don't use it so it's already dead to me - hope the Wavers don't get left behind in the G v FB battle to be at the top of the 'look at me' social networking heap.