Google Wave

[Knuckle Duster]

I haven't seen anything posted yet about it, and I'm sure some of you have heard about Google Wave by now.

Some might not have though and should take a look:

http://wave.google.com/ with Keynote presentation.

Short Version of Keynote:


It's a protocol, not a centralized service. The fanboys of it like saying 'This will replace,email, message boards, blogs, social networking sites, and IM clients' which is a realistic statement.

It may seem like 'another stupid facebook/twitter thing' to some, but that's not even the tip of the iceberg with it's potential.

The HTML 5 standard's lack of plugins, and Wave is going to kick the shit out of the internet as we know it. It's the next level, and it's coming soon. Bundle this with Google's efforts behind O3D and browsers will be able to handle gaming.

[Knuckle Duster]

With the efficiency of virtualization pools, load balancing on servers these days, and this new stuff happening via a 'new federated protocol'.

The 'Cloud' is coming and cheap 'browser embedded' devices will be sufficient for tons of stuff.

[ThugsRook]

more "spy on you 24/7" junk.

[mrbigreddog]

more "spy on you 24/7" junk.

"Yeah like, uh, where were you! I called and I g-waved you 4 times! Like... uh... who are you doing behind my back!!! I know your cheating on me!"
"No baby... I have hemorrhoids and it just takes 2 hours to take a dump!"

[Knuckle Duster]

more "spy on you 24/7" junk.

Except, it's federated protocol and open source to host.

Again, "It's a protocol,like email, it's not a centralized social networking website lorded over by an evil company"

It's no more invasive than the mechanics behind a server running an IRC daemon.
If you 'don't trust' someone, 'don't use their network'.

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

Can you retype your opening topic but put it into caveman words so I can understand it? I mean I think I understand some of it, its like they took the old internet that ran on magic and found an even better kind of magic (so people won't use the old stuff)?

All I know is that my friend's computer has like a desktop with a moveable cube and on the sides of the cube are like other computer desktops. I asked him if there could be a cube within one of the sides of the cube and he wasn't sure. Computers are crazy. Crazy magic. We better be careful or we will get assimilated by Borgs.

[Devil N]

I don't really know what to make of Google Wave just yet. I understand it's a set of protocols, or better yet, a platform that can be used for many different types of communication, in a non-centralized way. Cloud computing to the max, so to speak. But I can't really imagine yet how this will work out in practice. Maybe I'm just too rusted into the way the internet works now. You can count on Google to come up with some clever uses for this platform though.

Also, to all the naysayers complaining about Google spying on us or anything: Wave represents the exact opposite of your paranoid Big Brother ideas. Not only are the specifications open for everybody to inspect and use, it is designed to be used without any central form of control. Even if some company or government does want to spy on you, Google Wave will do them absolutely no good at all.

All I know is that my friend's computer has like a desktop with a moveable cube and on the sides of the cube are like other computer desktops. I asked him if there could be a cube within one of the sides of the cube and he wasn't sure. Computers are crazy. Crazy magic. We better be careful or we will get assimilated by Borgs.

That would be Compiz Fusion, probably running in Ubuntu. Funky stuff that. And unlike that Aero crap that Microsoft cooked up for Vista, Compiz actually adds something useful to the user experience.

Something like this:

[QuickSciFi]

Useless. What they need to do is bring back, and continue working on, that Beta version of "Google TV."

[Elusive]

That would be Compiz Fusion, probably running in Ubuntu. Funky stuff that. And unlike that Aero crap that Microsoft cooked up for Vista, Compiz actually adds something useful to the user experience.

Something like this:

Ah, yes. I can't tell you how many times that having the active display and OS name/logo mapped onto a rendered 3D cube floating in abstract space has saved my ass.

...wobbly windows anyone?

[edit] Google have been really hand-wavey about how the wave-protocol would relate to the existing email standards. There's no way in hell people are just going to up and move to a completely new method of communication, because email is basically an electronic letter (per the name, obviously).

Believe me, I was floored by the possibilities. Not so hot on the plugin structure, though - Firefox extensions, Greasemonkey etc all manipulate pages on the Internet for the benefit of one person and their browser. I'd hate to invite someone to a wave and have them be unable to view some of the stuff I've entered due to reliance on extensions or whatever.

[Joe Redifer]

OK Knuckle Duster. I am holding you to it. This MUST replace my e-mail and all forums, and it must do this all very, very soon. If it doesn't happened, you're banned.

[Kiba in Exile]

With the efficiency of virtualization pools, load balancing on servers these days, and this new stuff happening via a 'new federated protocol'.

The 'Cloud' is coming and cheap 'browser embedded' devices will be sufficient for tons of stuff.

Which is funny, because all the old Sci-Fi books I read as a kid naturally assumed that every computer in the future would actually be just a terminal, or a window, to a global supercomputer buried deep under the surface of the Earth...or on the Moon.

[Knuckle Duster]

Ah, yes. I can't tell you how many times that having the active display and OS name/logo mapped onto a rendered 3D cube floating in abstract space has saved my ass.

...wobbly windows anyone?

[edit] Google have been really hand-wavey about how the wave-protocol would relate to the existing email standards. There's no way in hell people are just going to up and move to a completely new method of communication, because email is basically an electronic letter (per the name, obviously).

Believe me, I was floored by the possibilities. Not so hot on the plugin structure, though - Firefox extensions, Greasemonkey etc all manipulate pages on the Internet for the benefit of one person and their browser. I'd hate to invite someone to a wave and have them be unable to view some of the stuff I've entered due to reliance on extensions or whatever.

The plugins are it's main problem. Nobody agreeing to adopt a video and audio standard to be embedded in the W3C's html 5 standard yet is holding things up, but the bigger issue is Microsoft's non-compliance with Internet Explorer. Hopefully IE9 will be a better piece of crap than IE6,7, and 8 as far as standards go.

OK Knuckle Duster. I am holding you to it. This MUST replace my e-mail and all forums, and it must do this all very, very soon. If it doesn't happened, you're banned.

As I Said:

The fanboys of it like saying 'This will replace,email, message boards, blogs, social networking sites, and IM clients' which is a realistic statement.

I'm not a Fanboy of this tech. No matter how awesome new technology is, everyone knows it lives or dies by adoption.
It would make sense for this to be the backbone of the internet within 10 years. It won't make the other protocols obsolete, but it CAN replace each of them in functionality. Nothing can kill the old protocols.

Which is funny, because all the old Sci-Fi books I read as a kid naturally assumed that every computer in the future would actually be just a terminal, or a window, to a global supercomputer buried deep under the surface of the Earth...or on the Moon.

This model 'should' be the case within the next few decades.
ZFS can handle massive data storage with redundancy and security on arrays. Wave can serve as a real-time backbone protocol for communicating while being embedded everywhere. Hopefully the plugins needed will be injected into the W3C standards. Server's are more efficient than ever using virtualization pools, and naming services like LDAP have evolved to let 'The Cloud' happen for business networks. The internet can shift this way too.

The only thing standing in the way is the net neutrality debate, and Microsoft's lack of standards adoption in the current model. (I have faith that MS will open up in a few years, they're already thinking on moving their own products to the cloud, and selling subscriptions)

Soon enough, a web browser will be all you need. Even for gaming, just look at http://www.quakelive.com/

It's really a long time coming, but Google Wave is like the piece of the jigsaw puzzle that let the others fall into place more quickly.
It's an exciting time to be a tech geek.

[Elusive]

I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before you have me using OGGs.