December 18, 2009 57 Comments

My Google Wave Wish List

google wave I’m using Google Wave a bit more right now. Julien and I are writing notes for our next book in it. Justin and I are talkinga bout New Marketing Labs in it. I’m using it as a document collaboration tool, or an idea collaboration tool, and so far, that’s working reasonably well. There are many things I wish Wave did/had that would make the experience better. So, on the odd shot this becomes useful to document, here it is:

My Google Wave Wish List

  • An Android App that lets me view/edit my waves.
  • A Notifier function so that I know when someone works on a wave.
  • A “hide these folks” for the people I’m not actively collaborating with, OR some way to keep “most-tapped contacts” up top.
  • One button trash. C’mon. Don’t make it a CHORE to remove a wave.
  • More ways to edit. I like the “Post-It” style comments in spreadsheets. Can’t do this easily? Seems silly.
  • Gears support for Wave. This wasn’t just an obvious out-of-the-gate need?
  • Simple export to multiple formats, not just movies. I want a document export. I can’t write a book with this if I have to do swathes of copy/paste.
  • A two-wave format. In one usage, I used one part of a wave for the “body” of the work and the second part as the “chat window.” Seems like there’s another/better way to do it.

So, those are my wishes. What do you see/think/know about it?

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  • http://www.golfmarketingmastery.com/ Kevin Kaye

    I've been dieing to try it, does anyone know where I could get an invite to try it out?

  • http://www.barberproductions.com Bruce Barber

    Early to the learning curve, Mr. Brogan. Kudos! I would expect no less…

  • http://www.a-startup-guy.com darrindickey

    My wish list is pretty simple at this point: More people I know using it.

  • http://twitter.com/monkeysplat Drew Lucas

    Fully agree Chris. The awe factor has worn off. Time to create an uber useful collab app. I am sure Google has some of this in the pipeline. Thanks for laying it out for us.

  • http://twitter.com/LEMills Linda Mills

    Great list, Chris.
    Yes, Wave is a great tool for collaboration, but there's no doubt that its adoption would blossom if there were a notify feature. (In truth, I can hardly believe that it's *not* there!) Have the developers not heard the phrase, “out of sight, out of mind”?

  • http://DroidDog.com John Walton

    Here's a copy/past of wishlist I and some of my contacts compiled in a wave. I'm not sure if any of these have been resolved since listed:

    Add contact to wave by dragging to title in wave list

    Ability to change wave sort criteria

    Standalone apps for major mobile and desktop operating systems

    A better IM mode (am I missing something?)

    Easier method of adding and requesting contacts

    Notification system

    Permission requests for existing participants when a user wants to add someone not in their contact book. (Any user?)

    Real time character-by-character text should be disabled by default

    Ability to edit someone else's text should require permission and be disabled by default.

    SMS or Google Voice alerts.

  • http://www.jeffpersch.com JPersch

    e-mail me at jpersch@gmail.com and I will give you an invite!

  • http://twitter.com/michaeljbarber Michael Barber

    Great quick wish list, Chris. Have you tried the Firefox and Chrome add-ons for wave? Both have alerts for new waves, but I'm sure they'll build in functionality for alerts when someone works on a wave.

  • http://twitter.com/Partyaficionado Cheryl Lawson

    Here here on the Android App. I'll try the Firefox & Chrome Add ons thanks Michael Barber

  • http://twitter.com/theRamenNoodle Daniel Lewis • tRN

    I think Google chose to not implement Gears because, as they recently stated somewhere, HTML5 can do everything Gears could, so they're moving it to.

    I really like the way Waveboard works on my Mac as a Google Wave client, even notifies me via menubar and Growl when a wave has been updated!

  • joekoufman

    Amen on your first wish, Chris! Waveboard for Mac works great to notify you when someone has updated a Wave you are working on. I am sure there is a PC version available also.

  • http://subject2.com Nick Johnson

    I've been enjoying getting used to it but agree with you, there are some thing I would have thought were no brainers to have included, mainly a notification of a new wave/post.

    I've got about 15 new/available invites available if anyone wants one, email me at motiv8td@yahoo.com

  • http://www.TheDADvocateProject.com metzgerbusiness

    I want an easy way to find friends who are using it. I know I have a number of friends using it but if I don't know their Wave address it isn't any good.

  • http://www.dougmcisaac.com dougmcisaac

    There's a firefox addin that will notify you when there are changes to a Wave https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/…
    I'm pretty sure there's a plug in for Google Chrome too.

    Doug

  • http://london.vivastreet.co.uk/rent+london/q/flat studio flats to rent in london

    Google wish demonstrated in this post sounds very interesting but at the same time this concept looks fictions.

  • http://www.onlineinvestingai.com/blog/ George

    Great list! I haven't used Wave, but we have been using Google Docs for project management and to write our book. Google Docs works so well it is incredible.Extremely easy to use and great for collaboration. We are super happy with it. Score another point for Google!

    I guess it's time to start using Wave too!

  • http://twitter.com/pnstlion Gabe Young

    Great wish list. The one extra thing I'd like is rather than an avatar, if a webcam is active, that's what would show instead.

  • benmerrion

    I really like the notifier function suggestion. I think that would get other people using it more. One of the main problems that I'm experiencing with Wave right now is people getting back with me.

    In your last suggestion you mentioned how you were using the wave in two parts. It seems like the ping feature would be used for chat, although right now, you can't ping more than one person at a time.

    Right now one of the things that's most preventing me from using it more and also encouraging others to use it with me is that technical glitches are pretty prevalent. The most recent one that happens is when you type in a wave, the box starts moving a lot. A post from Techcrunch outlines most of the problems: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/26/why-google…

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    Funnily enough, Nathan and I have been using Wave while we've been working on our book. It wasn't until we started that I finally realized how incredibly useful Wave is for a project with two or more people – so much more efficient than dozens of emails, Tweets etc.

    My biggest bugbear is the lack of a notification feature.

    I would add that it has been running really, really slowly lately, which can be frustrating.

  • http://subject2.com Nick Johnson

    Thanks for that! I just downloaded it myself

  • http://www.famzoo.com Bill Dwight

    My favorite collab tool for this stuff is etherpad.com – dead simple and incredibly useful for co-authoring documents. (I am not affiliated with them – just a very happy user.) Ironically, just bought by Google to work on Wave. Their site is still open though – try it and see what you think.

  • debbiefriez

    Chris,
    Thanks for sharing your wish list. I'm also finding the editing function for word documents is not working for me, and I really want to use Google Wave for help when multiple people are editing a document.

  • http://twitter.com/danyork Dan York

    Great list, Chris. I solved the notification problem by moving to using Waveboard on my Mac:

    http://www.getwaveboard.com/

    It provides a standalone app that shows up in my Mac dock and whenever there are new waves – or modifications to existing waves – it gets the red circle with a number in it like other Dock icons do on the Mac. Because it's a separate app, I can also quickly switch to by Alt+Tab to work with waves. I've been VERY pleased with how it works. There is also now a “Pro” version that lets you print out waves, save an individual wave as a web page and other things that Google Wave in a browser can't easily do.

    Waveboard also has the Gears support you are looking for so that you can do drag-and-drop from the file system. (Although there's a note about using it: http://www.getwaveboard.com/gears/ ) There is also a beta program ( http://www.getwaveboard.com/beta/ )

    And FYI, I have no connection to Waveboard other than being a happy user.

    I agree with much of the rest of your list. MY single biggest issue with Wave is the lack of access control, which I wrote about here:

    http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/2009/11/…

    The Google Wave folks say this is coming “soon”, which will be good to see.

    I'm looking forward to reading more about your learnings from using Wave for your collaboration projects. Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.jtrigsby.com jtrigsby

    If you have them in your gmail contacts, they will just show up in wave. At least they did for me.

  • http://www.jtrigsby.com jtrigsby

    You are correct Daniel. Google is abandoning gears in lieu of HTML5… so I wouldn't hold my breath for gears support.

  • http://www.jtrigsby.com jtrigsby

    I agree Mike. It was a real pain the backside for me to get my arms around until I actually used it as a collaboration tool. Now, I can't wait for some of the more annoying technical issues to get worked out so it is usable all the time.

    I've called Wave a solution waiting for a problem, and that describes my experience with it perfectly. Once I had a problem to solve… it all started to make sense.

  • http://www.jtrigsby.com jtrigsby

    Call me a bleeding edge adopter I guess… but I like it… now. I had to find an actual use for it before it made sense but not I love it.

    Notifier — ditto! The plugins for FF & Chrome are helpful, but come on.

    Export — ditto! NOT having this just doesn't make any sense.

    Two wave format — if you're talking about opening two waves at once, you can. Click on a wave to open it, then CTRL-Click on the second wave to open it in a new window. (Sorry, not sure what the Mac keystrokes are). You'll want to do some pane (or pain, depending on the size of you screen!) management, but I use this arrangement all the time and it works well for me.

    @jtrigsby

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    I think because so many of us came to it from Twitter, it all kind of fell flat when we realized it wasn't “Twitter on steroids” as some hack named it.

    As you say, it took some time to see what it was good for.

    I've been in touch today with a Formula One team, who have set all their engineers and designers up with it, and they are raving that it's the very best tool ever designed for their kind of international collaboration. They have one slight concern and that's security of the data.

  • http://www.jtrigsby.com jtrigsby

    Yep, security is certainly an ongoing issue what will need to be addressed in a better way. In a lot of ways though, its about as secure as email.

    Another thing to keep in mind is what we currently call Wave is just Google's first iteration at a client for the public wave protocol. As with WaveBoard, there will be other client and implement features of the protocol in a better way.

    Federation remains a big issue as well. It is currently possible for me to download the opensource code and stand-up my own wave server… but how would users on my wave server communicate with users on googlewave.com? Again, similar to the early days of email, but a BIG drawback none the less.

    The resolution of these issues will make the wave protocol a more robust venue for collaboration… we're just not there yet…. but I am hanging on!

  • http://www.TheDADvocateProject.com metzgerbusiness

    Unfortunatly Gmail was a secondary mail app for me. I guess that might have to change.

  • http://twitter.com/markhoroszowski Mark Horoszowski

    I've been using it for similar use-cases and a lot of my “wishes” have already been listed by you and @phonedog_john, but here are some additional wishes:
    - Numbered lists (so far its only bullets…)
    - Outline lists
    - Export features to .doc / .docx or at least to a google doc to share finished product with people not on wave
    - Better integration with google spreadsheets, presentations, forms and docs – not having spreadsheets has been KILLER!

  • http://www.opinionatlarge.com Opinion@Large

    has anybody used google wave for internal corporate communication? I work for a big media company and we are experimenting small scale with the best practices for internal communication on social media and engagement initiatives. How does it compare to yammer in this regard?

  • http://getnerous.posterous.com/ Greg Getner

    I like it for business collaboration, not so much for personal (at this point).

    I would just add to your list the ability to enter “stealth edit” mode if at my choosing, meaning giving me the power to turn off the public nature of my editing. Sometimes I like to edit privately in my own little corner of the world.

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  • http://www.constructionriskadvisors.com/ dan phelan

    Speed it up. I'm involved on multiple 100+ post “waves” that include multiple media types. It's been frustrating trying to use the features due to the constant and arduous lagtime.

  • http://www.abel-communications.com Shira Abel

    There's a notification system if you use Chrome – it's a new plugin

  • http://www.abel-communications.com Shira Abel

    My Wave wish:
    Integration with Google Docs – I want to be able to pull up a doc and comment on top of the doc, while being able to go into the doc (while in Wave) and make edits during a collaboration. Also – the paste feature in Wave sucks, it puts lines where there shouldn't be.

  • cynthiaccutright

    Chris, I just started using Google Wave this week. I'm not up your usage there yet but I to have gears would be good.

  • desaraeaveit

    I'm not sure if I'm the only person, but for me speed seems to be an issue. Google Wave is a slow chore to use. My list of wishses:

    - Import emails from Gmail (all or just a couple)
    - Better to do list and crossing off (would be great for developer collab)
    - Export to any services: txt, blogger, social media
    - option to receive email, or tect when my waves are updated (maybe only as a daily feed but kind of like the options available for google groups)
    -Ability to give or take away priviledges for waves (again like google groups or sites)
    - Better search, hello GOOGLE- Search?!
    -Ability to collapse waves (like with gmail)
    - Use this to integrate information across all types of Google platforms: stock information, health, analytics whatever I want and auto import like an RSS

    If Google wants my feedback.. they should also make it easier to give my feedback.

    While I'm on my Google tangent: Voice

    -LOVE LOVE LOVE Google, especially Google Voice
    -The transcripts sometimes are very hilarious and off and turn normal conversation into cuss words (especially names)
    -Wish I could record even if they did call me (and maybe have it just annouce at the beginning of the call it will do this and it could be an auto feature- like call screening)
    -I want to use this for voice memos (to transcribe)
    - I wish I could SAY a contacts name, it would search my contacts and call them… I don't remember ANYONE's number anymore (thats what a contact book is for)
    - I want to pick a hello for while they are holding for one of us to pick up.
    -AT&T/Apple to stop being goofy and let us have an app for this.
    -It hangs up on my calls sometimes

  • http://detroit.fwix.com Jamie Favreau

    I have a Google Wave account but as someone and I talked about it on Facebook. IF you don't have a lot of Geeky friends then it is pointless.

  • http://www.erikorganic.com/bedroom/cedar-chest.shtml hope chest

    I would like to try using Google wave but my account seem not to respond with it or it is just my registration process that keeps me from using it.

  • http://heathertaskovics.net Heather Taskovics

    I would really love to try this out and have a Google account. How do I get an invite to use Google Wave?

    Please let me know. Thank you! :-)

    Heather

  • marryroy01

    The awe factor has worn off. Time to create an uber useful collab app. I am sure Google has some of this in the pipeline. Thanks for laying it out for us.There's no doubt that its adoption would blossom if there were a notify feature. (In truth, I can hardly believe that it's *not* there!) Have the developers not heard the phrase, “out of sight, out of mind”?

    webcam

  • Scarlettjacob

    My previous post “6 Tips for Using Google Wave on your First Project” was really about the initial experience a client and I had with Google Wave, and some the early lessons we learned. While I would rank both of us as web-savvy early adopters, suffice it to say my wish list for Google Wave features has been growing fairly rapidly.Mio Navman M305

  • http://detroit.fwix.com Jamie Favreau

    I have a Google Wave account but as someone and I talked about it on Facebook. IF you don't have a lot of Geeky friends then it is pointless.

  • http://www.erikorganic.com/bedroom/cedar-chest.shtml hope chest

    I would like to try using Google wave but my account seem not to respond with it or it is just my registration process that keeps me from using it.

  • http://heathertaskovics.net Heather Taskovics

    I would really love to try this out and have a Google account. How do I get an invite to use Google Wave?

    Please let me know. You may contact me at fyfeminstrel@gmail.com.

    Thank you! :-)

    Heather

  • marryroy01

    The awe factor has worn off. Time to create an uber useful collab app. I am sure Google has some of this in the pipeline. Thanks for laying it out for us.There's no doubt that its adoption would blossom if there were a notify feature. (In truth, I can hardly believe that it's *not* there!) Have the developers not heard the phrase, “out of sight, out of mind”?

    webcam

  • Scarlettjacob

    My previous post “6 Tips for Using Google Wave on your First Project” was really about the initial experience a client and I had with Google Wave, and some the early lessons we learned. While I would rank both of us as web-savvy early adopters, suffice it to say my wish list for Google Wave features has been growing fairly rapidly.Mio Navman M305

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