)
Google has finally made the statement that many have been predicting – Wave will not be developed further. Google Wave, an open source communication and collaboration platform, pronounced by some as a response to the social media monopoly of Facebook, has finally been laid to rest. Wave never got a significant following outside the Google fan base and many users found Wave too complex to use. Despite how-to videos by Google demonstrating Wave’s flexibility and usefulness, the wave of enthusiasm to use the service died soon after launch. About a year has passed since its release.
Google’s statement does not mean the end of Wave. In bits, the essence of Wave will still carry on:
…despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began.
Wave’s success stories came from its complete open development environment. Many automated tasks could be handled, and additional applications (comparable to Facebook apps) could be incorporated in the Wave being shared with contacts. The open ended development process also allowed for the service to be tailored to the needs of specific groups. Some companies even accepted Wave as a platform for intra-sectional communication.
The closing of the development process only applies to Wave as a separate product. As seen in the statement, parts of it will still be used in other Google services and the code and knowledge gained from the Wave experience may well birth a new service in the future.
When Wave came out, comparisons were being drawn to the sci-fi TV series Firefly and its follow-up movie, Serenity. Quotes from the movie were often heard at developer meets and the term Wave itself was derived from the fictional mode of communication in the series. The series was cancelled but had obtained a significant fan following (the Google Wave team, among others). Now, in a final ironic twist, Wave has met the same fate.