Saturday, May 30, 2009

Micro-blogging: Is Google Wave a Twitter Killer?

[cio] While the world has focused on Google Wave as a mash-up of chat, e-mail, and document sharing, it's really something else: Google Wave could be the Twitter that everyone really wants. Maybe it's the Facebook, too.

Shown for the first time on Thursday at Google's I/O developer conference, Wave is described as "equal part conversation and document" for its uses as a collaboration tool. But, the leap from what Google says Wave is today to what it can easily become is a short one.

If Google wants to compete, head-to-head, with Twitter and Facebook, Wave is the perfect start. It may not be a competitor when it first becomes publicly available, perhaps because the merging of documents, feeds, photos, e-mail, instant messaging, event planning, and other features is likely to seem so unfamiliar to users.

It will likely take time before would-be users really understand what Wave does and can be used for. How much time? Months, not years.

Then give Wave a more public face--documents, chats, IMs, etc.--to be shared with everyone on your contact list or the world at-large and Wave does everything Facebook and Twitter do. And more.

It is not a foregone conclusion this will happen. Outside its core search business and related tools, Google has faced an uphill battle for user acceptance. However, Wave, by combining so many otherwise separate Google features, could finally provide the compelling experience users seek.

Is Google Wave a Twitter Killer?
see also Google wave

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