The Wow is back: The new Wave

Consider this a message from the latest car show by a friend thunderstruck by a new wonder machine.  On the one hand you know he is dazzled, but on the other hand a part of you wished you could play too - and this friend knows cars... so you listen, even if the friend is a bit tongue-tied.  Remember the first time you saw the Google search engine?   One little box? instantaneous response? Remember the first time you saw Google Maps? Not just the mapquest thing, but the mashups?  Magic, plain and simple. Well, Google has done it again: Google Wave  (see Official Google Blog: Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave.) Trust me that this product revolutionizes communications and collaboration:  it is as concerned with the process of communicating as it is the product/ end-result;  in their words: A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more...; it combines email, instant messaging, wiki, shared white board and publishing:  it will knock your socks off. The tricks are cool, but the cummulative effect will change the way work is done.  And Google is making it an Open Source project, so that other vendors will be able to create different versions of Waves, and clients will be able to host them on their own servers, and they will all be able to inter-operate. If you indulge yourself in one technology fantasy this year, take the time to watch the video intro to Google Wave.  But make sure to sit down in a comfy chair and bring the popcorn, it is 1:20 long.  This was its intro to a crowd of developers, so there is some technical jargon, but it is well worth it  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ&feature=player_embedded). Just for grins: fast forward to email thread playback: 13:10 post to blog with real time update 19:00 live concurrent editing: 35:50 spell checking - context sensitive 43:00 twitter integration 57:30 real time translation 1:12:00 and btw: I have no financial interest in Google, and I have been annoyed with them plenty of times, but they have the resources and chutzpah to dream big, and sometimes this pays off. What do you think? Doug Yeager Yeager and Assoc LLC doug@dougyeager.com (502) 693 1800 Raising the bar in the business of philanthropy http://www.dougyeager.com/joomla/about-yeager-and-assoc/leadership.html