What did we learn from Google Wave?

Citing a lack of user adoption, Google announced Wednesday, via its official blog, that the company will nip development of Google Wave "as a standalone product." Meaning more or less that Google will take all the great parts of Google Wave and use them in other Google Suite (yep, that's what we're calling it) products like Google Docs and Gmail.

Perhaps the problem was a lack of direction from the company. When the company initially announced the product at Google I/O, Google fans were incredibly excited and once the product was released everyone wanted an invite. However, most users (including this blogger) were disappointed with Wave once invites became more abundant.

The fact was that, yes, Google Wave could do practically anything users asked it to but how were we supposed to use it?

We blogged a few months ago giving reasons as to why users should give Wave another chance pointing out the tool's ability to collaborate on fast-paced projects. However, while there was plenty room to use Wave in a work setting, there seemed little need to use Wave for play.

Regardless, Google Wave development is finished but can we really call the product a failure? No.

"...what's possible in the browser"

The truth is Wave taught both developers and users a lot about what was possible in the browser. While Twitter desktop apps like Tweet Deck and Tweetie were growing in popularity, Wave promoted browser-based Twitter applications which now make a lot more sense to HootSuite users.

Real-time collaboration by character

Wave also taught users how efficient real-time collaboration could be. The very fact that users could watch collaborators type sentences by character meant that collaborators could respond to questions and ideas before another collaborator even finished a thought. This developed into faster, more efficient collaboration. Meanwhile to Wave users, having to hit "save" to allow collaborators to see changes in a Google Doc seems almost archaic.

One-stop app

Finally, Google Wave alluded to an idea most of us have been waiting for: when will someone create an app that incorporates email, social networking, Web-browsing and professional-based collaboration tools all in one package? Why do we have to go to hundreds of places to check so many different things. What made Google Wave so exciting initially was that it promised to be an all-in-one browser-based app. Unfortunately, it never came close.

What was your favorite feature of Google Wave and how did you use the tool? Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.