Google Wave – next gen email

Google Wave looks like email but works as  a real-time conversation. Add to that a document creation tool and suddenly you have a system in which you share messages and collaborate, all in real time. The advantage of Google Wave is that messages on a particular discussion are stored in a single document. You no longer have to track threads or sort through ‘sent’ versus ‘received’ emails. Wave is a live environment where you can collaborate in real-time with your project team, creating messages, sharing documents or conducting meetings… that’s the power of Wave.

Open Source Google Wave

I shouldn’t really use the term ‘Google Wave’.  Wave is open source and federated, which means that, just like email, anybody can start setting up Wave servers for their own domains. Wave is designed to integrate into everyday life and business and be in full control of the users.

Wave Media

It’s looking like Wave will also be a rich media environment. You can embed live web data like feeds, widgets or even audio and video conference tools.

The whole point of Wave is to become a central part of our daily workflow.  These days email can become more of a distraction than a useful work tool.  With all of the above opportunities presented by Wave – real-time collaboration blended into a messaging system, running on your own servers and your own domains, with the ability to add live data, applications, services, and virtual robotic servants – the picture of ‘email for the 21st century’ starts to look like a reality the business world.