It was supposed to revolutionize communication in a way not seen since email.  It attracted technology press attention in a way not seen since the iPod.  Beta invites were lusted after in a way not seen since Helen of Troy.  Google Wave was the “it” girl, the coolest kid on the block.  Everybody wanted to check it out.

One year later, Google Wave is dead and most people probably don’t even remember it ever existed.  Why did Wave fail?  What happened?

We here at YTA lusted after Wave invites just as much as anyone else.  We thought we might use it to make our project management tasks easier.  At least we might be able to have real time collaboration with our clients during time sensitive projects.  When we finally did score an invite (thanks to Tyler Olson at SMCpros), we were left… puzzled.

Google Wave was a solution in search of a problem.  It did a lot of things, certainly.  You could use it for instant messaging, email, file sharing, you name it.  But what it did do, it didn’t do any better than other applications dedicated to those functions.  Google’s own Gmail was much better at instant messaging, email and file sharing.

Wave had another huge disadvantage over dedicated apps: it was a system resource hog.  Not only did it run slowly, it made everything else (in your browser and outside of it) run slowly, too.  After having it around for about a week in October, I closed the page and never opened it again.

Google Wave turned out to be a failed experiment on Google’s part.  They tried, they failed.  Maybe someday the technology will find a use.  Until then, maybe the death of Google Wave will serve as a lesson to technology journalists: don’t believe the hype.

One question nags at me though: what will become of the Google Wave Sucks blog?

One Response

1. Tweets that mention R.I.P. Google Wave 2009-2010 | Your Trusted Assistant -- Topsy.com says:

   August 4, 2010 at 9:37 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kim Opitz, Jennifer Lanham. Jennifer Lanham said: R.I.P. Google Wave 2009-2010 http://cot.ag/97pqWS [...]