5 things you can only do on Google Wave
Posted under: My recent post “The 5 most annoying things about Google Wave” generated some feedback and one reader made quite a interesting question:
“Can someone (anyone) list 5 things possible on Wave that you CANNOT do using established familiar tools?”
The answer to your question is: Yes! But, before I go and write one of my beloved lists, I would like to point something that I think is important to highlight: Google Wave is a new frontier, a new way of doing things and integrating concepts and practices into one place. Pretty much like Twitter (or anything else) its up to you, the user, to discover how you can use it and how it can be of use to YOU. This is one of my quests and you can read more about what I think of this subject right here.
On with the list then! (That I was asked to be “truly unique, can’t be done in any other way, (…) meaningful and useful, not a solution looking for a problem“)
- Collaborate: make a new wave, invite those involved in creating any type of document (or even code) and start working. I am aware that etherpad does this already, and does it well ,but it doesn’t allow you to share backup documentation, like a PDF document, that can be shared with all those involved. With Google Wave you also have the ability to add more people to that wave and, for them to get up to speed with everything that happened before, all they have to do is click on the Playback button.
- Get Feedback: If you are attending or organizing a conference you can open a wave and search for people (using Twitter for example) who are at the same conference and invite them. At the end of the conference you will have a finished document with the different points of view ready to be published. Also very useful to receive feedback in real time, in more than 140 characters, to the conference’s speakers.
- Create Knowledge: Wave is amazing to do this! Make a new wave and establish it as your official Help Desk. Use another Wave to be used as a FAQ. Wait! Wait! I know! There are thousands of Help Desk solutions out there but with Google Wave you have a service that is easy to use for your end client and, from scratch and for FREE, allows you to have a video conference system, the possibility to direct to specific departments (waves) and so on. Also on the plus side you can develop your own applications for it so you get what you really want and not a package.
- Learn by Sharing: There is a wave called “Music DSP Wave“. This wave has coders sharing their codes of Digital Signal Processing. You can do that in a forum right? But can you have several coders tweaking around with the code and creating a new code out of it? With proper idents? Ready to be compiled? That’s what I thought. Google Wave can be used as a creative pool no matter what you are into. Try it is my advice to everyone.
- Have Fun: Yes fun! Watch the same video at the same time with all participants of a wave. Play Sudoku with 100 people from all over the world.
This what you can do right now, using Google Wave that is still on a preview stage. Are you using Google Wave in a unique way? Lets us know in the comments or leave a video comment. YOU choose!
Picture Credits: Hamed Saber under a CC License