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Impressions of a Google Wave

My first impressions of Wave are, like Alan Levine's, sceptical. Wave has underwhelmed me; it's not easier to use than, well, anything, and it's not solving any communications problems that I had. Yes, the jury's still out. But they're not ordering lunch. Related: EDUCAUSE's Seven Things You Need To Know About Wave. Rich Hoeg, NorthStarNerd.Org, October 30, 2009. [Link] [Tags: Google, EDUCAUSE] [Previous][Next]

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Re: Impressions of a Google Wave

Frank Lowney, November 1, 2009

I am troubled about the underlying idea that good and useful communication must be extemporaneous. Thus, my concerns also extend to chat, IM and so on. I'm not just picking on Wave.

There are those who do well on certain kinds of objectives when in such an environment. I'm just not one of them. For people like me to function at all in these environments, our contributions have to be "canned" ahead of time or superficial. We like, no, we need, to reflect on what has been said so far, what we are considering saying and to research facts and opinions that lie beyond the immediate circle of conversation.

As with the myth of multi-tasking being the special province of the millennial or some other youthful generation, there is a myth that immediacy in communication is something that certain age groups do better than their elders. Both multi-tasking and extemporaneous conversation are taxed with a degradation of quality that varies depending upon the subject at hand. Neither is bad per se but practitioners need to be aware of the costs involved and make a reasoned decision as to whether those costs are defensible given the decisions and conclusions about to be reached.

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