Google last month previewed a new product, Google Wave. Developed by Google in Sydney – yes, here in Australia … this should be a huge story locally – Google Wave is a product which has the potential to change the way we communicate and collaborate online. It is the collaboration facilities which make Wave interesting from a newspaper and magazine story perspective. While much of the concern I express here about the future of newspapers and magazines relates to the transition of these aggregating products to digital platforms, the longer term discussion needs to be around how we engage with stories. This discussion goes to the heart of relevance of books, magazines and newspapers. Google Wave is one of several technologies which may provide a pointer to evolution considerably beyond the fears and opportunities of what we see on the horizon. Jeff Jarvis sees Google Wave facilitating collaboration on stories. Here is the first public presentation of Google Wave at a conference in the US earlier this week:
WOW! I haven’t watched the entire presentation yet … but WOW! A whole new way of looking at content collaboration. This really is something with so many possibilities.
From a business collaboration/communication perspective this is also very exciting. Much better than existing platforms. It makes email and other platforms look like dinosaur technologies (and to a large extent they are).