Scrolling the Wave of Tomorrow

First thing I notice after signing in to Google Wave: The stupid scrollbar. Anybody figure out how that works? Pull it, click it, do what you want. It has a mind of its own anyway.

Well, the invitation advertised it anyway: "you may run into some bumps along the way". Looking forward to the others.

The title bar said: "Andrei (3)". 3 what? Where are they? Is this a treasure hunt? Maybe it's behind the big empty window in the middle that says "No results found for inbox" (huh??). Nope, nothing there. Hmmmm, maybe you need to pull the scrollbar really hard and the '3' will pop up somewhere. Ah, screw it! I still can't use the damn scrollbar.

Well, 5 minutes was really ENOUGH of Google Wave for me. I wonder what was in the Googlers minds. Is this really the next big thing of the web today? Maybe the whole "I work for Google and I'm going to make the world the best place to live" elitist thinking has gotten to their heads. Forget about usability, doing this awesome scrollbar and windowing system is more important.

I dind't have the nerves to actually go and use it, but I've heard it's slow as hell. Before actually trying it, I really liked the idea. I didn't think it would replace email, nor that it would become more popular than instant messaging, but I really thought it fit its niche perfectly. And that niche is collaboration. It would be really useful to use by teams, even ones that work in the same room. Have a debate, simultaneously edit some document, and in the end, save it for future reference. Instant documentation, combined with brainstorming. But not this shitty implementation. No way.

Google hasn't put together one (not one, i stress that) brilliant product since the Google search engine. Ok, maybe Google mail + chat. Everybody is saying that they're up to something. Something so incredible, that we can't even imagine how incredible it will be. I think I know what they're plan is. Judging from the state of Google Wave, it looks like they have lots and lots of monkeys to code. In a reasonable amount of time, some self-aware artificial life form is bound to appear out of that. Of course, at first it will be in 'beta' for a period that will seem like forever.

I admit I'm only judging the surface, but you can check out http://www.google.com/search?q=google+wave+sucks for more (some even serious) reasons why Google Wave is atrocious. So I'll let you discover the other many, many bumps ahead. Enjoy! And I saw some strong opinions that make it look like email and instant messaging are like the cancer of the internet. If something is not done fast enough we are doomed! I really don't see what the big problem is. I admit I haven't thought more deeply about it, but it sounds more like exaggerating some problem, so people will rush to embrace the new shitty replacements.