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O.k…  So this post isn’t really a post about online marketing.  This post is about Google’s latest attempt to revolutionize a growing aspect of our everyday lives, real time communication on the internet.  Much of this post will be speculation as Google is yet to activate my Wave account (ahemmm), but I am hopeful that I’ll get my hands on Google’s latest and greatest soon enough…

On the surface, Google Wave doesn’t sound like a revolutionary communication tool.  After all, Wave’s tag line is ‘Communicate and Collaborate in Real Time’.  I mean, come on, how many time’s have I read, or seen this same statement in an article or power point.  So many times, I’ve become immune to the statement, for sure…  However, once I really made the effort to learn about Wave I found it to be much more interesting than its tag line.  I’m not yet convinced it will replace email as I know it, but I do feel it could streamline much of the communicating I personally do online.

Of the features I’ve seen thus far, I think one of the biggest communication time savers for me will be the ability to read and respond to an instant message before the sender has finished typing it.  As an avid user of Skype instant messaging, the suspense of watching that little pencil scribbling (an indication that a new, totally awesome message is headed my way), can turn into a real time killer.  If I can see what I’m being sent, as the person I’m communicating with is typing it, and respond in real time, the conversation immediately becomes more time efficient, and more like an actual conversation.

In addition, anything in a Wave conversation can be edited at any time by anyone within that Wave…  Just added to a Wave your friends started yesterday?  You can see what was said, by who, and when, and can then correct, add, or append the conversation with your own commentary.  By eliminating the inefficient back and forth of email, this feature allows anyone to be added and brought up to speed on any conversation instantly.

The last feature I really like is the ability to drag and drop files to share with everyone in your Wave.  No more attachments, no need to track down email addresses, and no chance that your message will land in the receivers Junk Box.  Just click, drag, and drop any document, file, picture, etc…  for all in your Wave to see.

Of course I’ve only listed a few of the features I could use to instantly streamline my daily online communication, but there are many, many more features worth mentioning…  With Wave Extensions, for example, you could manage your FaceBook, Twitter, and email all through one interface.  It could potentially become your all-in-one communication tool…  And, the fact that Wave was developed as an open source platform, means it can be fully customized to met your needs, and will inevitably speed it’s evolution.  Very cool…

Until Google approves my Wave invite….. I suppose I have no other choice, but to communicate the old fashioned way, with one sided emails and attached files.  On the bright side, I will still have the fun and suspense of knowing when I have an incoming instant message.  In fact I think I see one coming now, gotta run!

Cheers -

Matt