Learn how Google wave works in 10 minutes

If you’re like me, you’ve been hearing about Google wave for a while now. And you’re wondering, “What the hell is Google wave and how is it supposed to help me?”

Well, in short, Google wave is the next step in real-time communication.

Email as we know it was developed sometime in the 60’s, when computers filled entire rooms and the Cold War was all the rage. The fact that Email has lasted till now is an awesome feat considering that most technologies don’t survive a single calendar year. Email was a crucial step that revolutionized the way people communicate. It dramatically shortened the amount of time it took to send and receive large amounts of textual information, from weeks to mere seconds. It ranks as one of the greatest communication tools, up there with the telephone, telegraphy, and smoke signals.

However, email has not changed much since its inception. People are mostly satisfied with email as it is and have taken it for granted. But there were other people out there asking, “How can we improve email?” And those people happen to work at Google.

Whatever Google wave may be, people have already formed their opinions about it. Bloggers and techies have flooded forums and message boards with their take on the new product. Some of them think it’s the next best thing since sliced bread, while others are already doubting it’s usefulness.

Whatever Google Wave turn out to be, it is definitely getting a lot of attention. This may be part of Google’s marketing strategy, and it is working to perfection.

So what is Google wave and how will it help you?

Short version:

This is the understanding from an outsider’s perspective. It covers the key changes Google Wave makes to communication.

Long version:

Who better to hear about Google Wave from than the people who helped develop it? Google Wave is an innovation from the same people who brought us Google Maps. Seeing how well Google Maps has done, I have no doubt that Google Wave will be quite popular.

This video shows off the more advanced functions of Google Wave, including playback, its connections to blogs and twitter, and also the ability to drag and drop files. Essentially almost anything you would need to communicate is built into Google Wave itself.

I hope that helped clear up all the questions you had about Google Wave. I for one can’t wait to get onto the wave and play around.

Here’s a preview of all the things Google Wave can do, and a nice video to boot.