Are You Using Google Wave, Yet?

Google Wave's web-based collaboration tool to manage projects, swap files and communicate in real-time is notoriously difficult to understand and use. Greg Lambert writes "Wave is a great idea that is wrapped in a frame of confusion" in If I Throw a Google Wave Party... And No One Shows Up? Well, it's definitely a BYOB party.

Getting a Grip on Google Wave. The idea behind Wave is that it could replace email or that Wave is some Web 2.0 version of real-time email. Maybe, if you can understand how to use it. The Idiot's Guide to Google Wave on Tech Radar may be a good place to start. The Complete Guide to Google Wave is a free online book that offers step-by-step instruction in some depth. Here's a Google Wave Community for more.

Actually, I doubt Wave will replace email. As a collaboration tool, well it's pretty hard to collaborate if one is spending more time asking "how do I do that?" than working on the task at hand. I'm also put off by having to install Google Chrome Frame, an early-stage open source plug-in, to use Wave in IE. "Wave works better in Internet Explorer when it's enhanced by Chrome Frame's open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine," quoting from the Google Wave Support page. Maybe when Wave works easier. [JH]