I like alot of Google products. However I have to say even for a Beta (especially from Google) Preview I am not impressed with Wave. I do like the concept though and came across Shareflow from Zenbe which I think is a ton better than Wave here’s why:
Zenbe Shareflow vs. Google Wave
-You can invite anyone vs Beta/inviting people
-Sign up/in is easy to invited people vs Wave painful, create wave email..
-Clean layout,easy to reply to posts vs Bit crowded, no reply box
-You can post files vs Nope
-It emails you a daily summary vs Nope
-You can email a flow/wave vs. Nope
-RSS vs Nope
-Mobile version vs Nope
My conclusion here is: Wave = Bad, Shareflow = Good. Let me know what you think.
Update 1: According to Techcrunch Google are finally going to turn on notifications on wave. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/04/google-wave-notifications/
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Sorry Duncan but Wave isn't actually in Beta yet. It's still in preview!
Also, Wave sign-up won't be painful once it's actually ready. Not sure what you mean about no reply box – you just click on the bottom of the wavelet that you want to reply to. File posting will come soon via an extension I'm sure (one may well already be available), and there's no e-mail summary because it's designed to replace e-mail, not play second fiddle to it. RSS extensions will come too I'm sure, if not already, perhaps with an RSS bot you can add to a wave to make all posts go into a particular feed. Mobile-wise, it works on modern smartphones fine, and there are app versions too.
The big things I think you've missed with Wave is that it's an open federated protocol that's behind it, whereas Shareflow is a closed proprietary system, that to be used effectively (with more than the paltry 25MB = Google give 7.5 GB with free accounts) has to be paid for. The federation means that anyone will be able to set up their own Wave server, just like you might with e-mail or Jabber or web (which is the three things it's trying to combine), again for free.
That's what I think 🙂
I agree with everything, more or less but probably left out a some context.
-By 'I like the concept' I mean the protocol, ability to create your own servers and so on the idea is great and I look forwards to the Alpha/Beta/Real version
-I know you can reply but it isn't obvious in the preview version (thanks for the correction) to non-geeks as to how you do it
-Zenbe is closed and offer small amounts of space, for now I'm happy to pay
I don't agree with
-No email summary, I might need to better understand how it's going to integrate. For now it would be very useful.
You guys need to wake up and smell the unsustainability.
What company who's soul product revolves around communication doesn't communicate with its market ?
Get a grip.
/me *Pukes*