Google Wave was really hard for me to figure out. When I first got on there, I was like, "I don't get it." It wasn't until a few of my staff, co-workers and a couple of members of my family got on it--that I realized how powerful it is.
In my work, one of our stumbling blocks is called "Version Creep." That's where several people are working on the code, and they accidentally over write each others' work. We've developed several apps with check in check out systems now to help alleviate that problem.
I think Google Wave started with that concept. Only it's for any conversation, document collaboration, conference, anything with a large group of people attending a common event -- a wave.
One college kid wrote that he has a study group with several people. They used to take turns merging everyone's various notes. In this case, "the wave" is the lecture. Now, they can all sit in the same lecture and take notes on the fly with their laptops on Google Wave. The entire lecture's notes, materials and hand-outs are automatically created and generated by everyone.
Everyone can see everyone contributing, different versions, everything right on the fly. If one gets confused, they can hit replay. Then, they can also add different notes later. It's all documented and available to everyone that is part of that particular wave.
Sorry for rambling, it took me awhile to even begin to get it.
We are planning a fairly large conference in January. We are planning on giving out Wave accounts to speakers and participants to document the various sessions and the entire day. I got the idea from this conference:
http://blogs.voxeo.com/ett/2009/11/03/emerging-tech-talk-40-how-to-use-google-wave-for-collaborative-conference-notes-and-conversation/
If any of you need an invite, let me know. Again, Google Wave the best way to learn how to use this powerful tool is with others.
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