Okay Geek Farm
Google Wave Development Halted, To Be Killed This Year
Jason Tsay
Google Wave never was really too exciting to us. What Google calls “a new web application for real-time communication and collaboration” received a less than welcome response and adoption even after opening up to the public on May 19th. I remembered how so many people on the Internet begged for an invite to Google’s new service only to later realize it was quite useless and became disappointed.
According to the Google Blog, the company plans to keep the site up and maintain its functions “at least” until the end of the year. While this specific product is not intended to be developed any further, Google will utilize knowledge and experience gained in the future.
Where do I see Google Wave showing up in the next couple of months/next year? Well, I strongly believe that it will become merged with Google Buzz inside of the already extremely popular Gmail. Then, at least some users will click on the sidebar and check it out. Or maybe the whole general style and idea of Wave will be integrated into how we check our mail… Anyhow, the code is open-source so anyone can continue to develop this platform if they choose, and carry the torch forward. Maybe the next time we see Google Wave, it will actually be a hit! (and maybe Google won’t be part of it).
