tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11523536.post8644510505449277096..comments2023-10-28T06:20:02.504-04:00Comments on sernaferna: PrescienceDavid Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11523536.post-13724526379051340532010-01-30T12:54:33.788-05:002010-01-30T12:54:33.788-05:00As mentioned in the Google Wave post, though, Goog...As mentioned in the <a href="http://sernaferna.blogspot.com/2010/01/google-wave.html" rel="nofollow">Google Wave post</a>, though, Google Wave isn’t <i>about</i> new technology; it is, after all, just incremental improvements to existing technologies. In terms of raw technology, I was more impressed with Google Maps and Google Docs, which are great technology. But overall, I’m more impressed with Wave, which is about the ability to look at things in a new way, and potentially shift a paradigm or two. (Email? Instant Messaging? Documents? Things of the past. That would be huge.) <br /><br />It wouldn’t take a lot of new or brilliant technologies to replace email, just a new way of combining them; wikis and chat protocols put together in a particular way, as Wave has done, could be a way of communicating that would, eventually, render email obsolete. Render instant messaging obsolete. For that matter, render <i>documents</i> obsolete. There aren’t many computer technologies as old as email. Email is even older than the internet itself; it was used in the very oldest forms of computer networks. To replace that would be a big change to how we communicate, and I agree with Google on the fact that this could potentially be a way of using modern internet technologies to do just that. It’s not technology that will make Wave take off, it’s a new way of looking at things—if people outside of Google start to buy into this stuff, email will eventually go away. People like us will still use it, albeit less and less, but the next generation won’t bother; why use this clunky email thing when we can wave?<br /><br />You can’t really assess Google Wave properly unless you have other friends/colleagues who are also using the technology, and you start using it for your communications with them. Instead of sending them an email, invite them to a wave; instead of “replying” to the email, they contribute to it, and add blips. It’s like people 10 years ago saying, “I haven’t used this internet thing, but I don’t see how it’s any different from using the post office or the telephone.”<br /><br />As for the iPad, we’ll see. Like I say, people have done tablets before, and by and large, nobody has really cared. People didn’t want or need tablets. Personally, I can’t picture using the iPad; it’s a form factor that, to me, looks awkward. (At least the Tablet PC from Microsoft had a form factor that allowed it to be used tablet-like, but also allowed it to be used laptop-like.) The big difference between this tablet and previous ones is the touch screen (combined with the App Store, I suppose), and maybe that’s what will make the difference.David Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11523536.post-29769568534541656322010-01-29T14:18:00.578-05:002010-01-29T14:18:00.578-05:00Heh heh heh... I've been talking to some frien...Heh heh heh... I've been talking to some friends about both Google Wave and the iPad recently and I came to the complete opposite conclusion... sort of.<br /><br />I don't think Google Wave will make much of a big splash because I don't think it's doing anything overly new or different. (Of course, I don't have too much use for Wave, so my opinion is probably based on the fact that I'll use it for about a week and then forget about it.)<br /><br />I'm a little excited to see Apple come out with their tablet though. I generally dislike Apple products but many people do. I don't think we'll start seeing iPads everywhere I think Apple's popularity will start us down the road to seeing more of this technology become more used and more popular. In a few year's time I think we'll be seeing much more technology like the iPad. (Hopefully after Steve Jobs and Apple go under.)Sweephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08900424543648123990noreply@blogger.com