Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Google Wave - Does anyone actually use it?

In my opinion Google Wave is...

  • ...a useless waste of time and its never going to catch on

    Votes: 23 59.0%

  • ...great, I use it on a daily basis and I love it

    Votes: 3 7.7%

  • ...non-existent to me, I never got an invite!

    Votes: 13 33.3%
  • Total voters
    39
Jon-Luke

Jon-Luke

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 22, 2009
278
0
Cape Town
I can remember a couple of months ago there was all this hype about Google Wave and how it was going to change how we communicate Blah, Blah, Blah...

So now a couple of months down the line does anyone actually use it? I have to admit that I maybe only check in to see if there are any new messages maybe once a week, if that. I think my issue is that I never really liked web based messaging services. But also it doesn't really seem to have caught on - most of my friends are more than happy to stick with twitter, facebook and skype.

What are your verdicts?

PLEASE VOTE
 
No, I don't use Wave. It was way overhyped. Rather than learn the complicated interface of something new, I have a few dedicated services or apps that do a much better job.

And the whole "I need an invite!" thing was a marketing gimmick. I can't tell you how often I got people inviting me to Wave. Way too many going around to be a real beta release.
 
Nope. Got an invite, sent about 15 ... seems to not have caught on for me.
 
Got my invite… sent out a lot. Now Google keeps sending me new batches and I have run out of even "remote acquaintances"…

I have not found it useful at all.
Time will/might tell.
 
I have it but no, i don't really use it.
Mostly because the unfamiliar concept of waves is not explained very clearly, and because my friends dont use it.
 
Finally got an invite, and had nobody to talk to. By the time I got invites to send out to my friends, I had lost interest.

It will have its uses in the future, but not for me right now...
 
Tried it for a while, but in the end just didn't really see the point - for the moment at least.

Plus it just seemed to act a bit funny sometimes. Waves I archived still appeared where they shouldn't. Waves I'd marked as Read came back un-Read again.
 
I have it, I like it, I have used it (but not on a daily basis - the poll needs some tweaking), but like the others have said, it's a bit like having an IM client and being the only one with it. If others aren't using it, there's no real point in trying to use it.

Maybe it'll catch on down the road, maybe enough people don't see the point just yet, or maybe there are enough other tools out there that people are already using instead.
 
Jon-Luke said:
I can remember a couple of months ago there was all this hype about Google Wave and how it was going to change how we communicate Blah, Blah, Blah...
Click to expand...

Every time Google starts something new it gets overhyped by the legions of Google fanatics. Wave is an interesting concept but there are many, many issues to sort out before it gets widely adopted, if ever.
 
The problem, at least for me, was that it wasn't built *on top of* existing email accounts. If I could interact with all my existing emails, and then, when a contact and I both had Wave, use it appropriately, it would get used, and probably decently frequently, as I have a lot of people I know who use Gmail. But because it is a separate service, I never even bother logging in.
 
I use it quite a bit. Its a nice way to set up a quick chatroom or pseudo-blogs for your friends only. A couple of people i know are part of a wave where we all post cool bands we found recently and add our thoughts to the mix. Its kind of like a mini forum for just us.
 
We managed to get everybody at work on it, and make a new wave for each new project, to keep all relevant communication for that project in one place.

Seems quite handy, all though I still don't trust it completely...waves has disappeared without trace... :eek:

He...ck, I even purchased the Waveboard iPhone app... ;)
 
So considering this I think it would be fair to say that the communication services on the web that have taken off are: Facebook (and possibly as a 2nd dying cousin MySpace) I know there are a ton of others like "Linked In" and Plaxo that some use and some don't use.

Then for micro blogging I don't think Twitter has any peers so they pretty much lead the field.

Skype is probably the most widely spread VOIP service I know that there are others some that many will swear are better but Skype is the most common. I also know of a lot of people that use skype as their primary IM service too...

Which brings us to IM serives, probably the oldest form of communication on the web besides email - I think my first membership was to ICQ back in the '90s. But which is the most common now? Facebook has a IM service but you have to be logged in, Skype has a IM service which works quite well because it runs quietly in the background. I personally dont use ICQ any more and I know there are others like Yahoo, MSN, Meebo, aim etc... but which is the leader? which is the best is there one that can talk to all the others (So if some of my friends are on Facebook others on Skype and others on MSN can I talk to all of them using one service?)
 
tobefirst said:
The problem, at least for me, was that it wasn't built *on top of* existing email accounts. If I could interact with all my existing emails, and then, when a contact and I both had Wave, use it appropriately, it would get used, and probably decently frequently, as I have a lot of people I know who use Gmail. But because it is a separate service, I never even bother logging in.
Click to expand...

Yeah- I agree. I don't think it suffered from poor features, but it just doesn't have enough to justify a loss of backwards compatibility. Its really frustrating- I like it and would love to use it, but I can't. I sent out a ton of invites and it just didn't catch on with anyone normal who was just looking to communicate, only people who were interested in it as an idea.

I think the best thing that google can do is try to copy its success with gchat. Gchat isn't special either; its just another chat program like aim, but it does well because its just sitting there on your gmail window. I could see them giving all gmail users a "wave upgrade" with the ability to upgrade a conversation to a wave or send waves from the normal gchat window. Its the only way to catch enough normal people (those who wouldn't bother to venture out to try it on its own merit.)
 
Jon-Luke said:
one that can talk to all the others (So if some of my friends are on Facebook others on Skype and others on MSN can I talk to all of them using one service?)
Click to expand...

I use adium, it intergrates well with facebook, msn and others. Works very well.
 
I find it quite useful actually. I use it everyday as a brainstorming tool for a project I'm working on. But frankly I don't think it will catch on, because it's difficult to explain what it is to the average user. Is it a replacement for e-mail? A messageboard? A wiki? It's not exactly any of these stuff.
 
Forgot to mention one thing I really disliked about Google Wave:

Your own posts can be edited by others!

That's just not right. Nobody should be able to change what I've written without my permission. I don't mind be corrected, but when any and every Wave user can simply edit my post, it really pisses me off. Imagine if that were the way these boards worked!? Chaos...
 
Tilpots said:
Forgot to mention one thing I really disliked about Google Wave:

Your own posts can be edited by others!

That's just not right. Nobody should be able to change what I've written without my permission. I don't mind be corrected, but when any and every Wave user can simply edit my post, it really pisses me off. Imagine if that were the way these boards worked!? Chaos...
Click to expand...

Yes, but proof of your original post still exists in the history of the wave for all to see. No one can actually change what you said intending to imply that they were your words because you can simply edit it back and you can prove it was your original statement by directing others to the history of the wave.
 
walnuts said:
Yes, but proof of your original post still exists in the history of the wave for all to see. No one can actually change what you said intending to imply that they were your words because you can simply edit it back and you can prove it was your original statement by directing others to the history of the wave.
Click to expand...

Who really wants to/will take the time and go back and look at the history of the entire wave just to check for accuracy? It puts a question mark on every post. The integrity of the whole Wave concept is compromised.

Editing somebody else's words is not a feature, it's a bad idea.
 
Tilpots said:
Who really wants to/will take the time and go back and look at the history of the entire wave just to check for accuracy? It puts a question mark on every post. The integrity of the whole Wave concept is compromised.
Click to expand...

I agree- checking all of your old posts would be silly. But, when someone edits your statement, it appears as a modified/marked as new blip within the wave. The wave is essentially marked as new until you acknowledge this edit. You are therefore specifically notified that someone has modified your words. I would think that knowing you are likely to get caught in an attempt to sneakily change someone else's words would deter you from such an action. Its not entirely unlike a tracked change in a word processor- you are notified of a change and you accept the change when you acknowledge the changed blip.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back