Google and Googlewave

Six months ago somebody might come up to me and ask, "AJ, What do you think of Google and the upcoming Wave?" and my reply would be promoting Google, what they do, and their ability to possible "Take over the world" (using that very loosely). At this point, I've been toying with Google products (Orkut, Sketch-Up, Docs, Calendar, Gmail, Earth, Maps, Street, etc...) for quite some time, and now Google Wave. What do I think of it?

So getting back to the topic: What does Google have that people can use - Incredible search engine, Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Maps, Goog-411. What does Google have that people can tinker with? Sketch-Up, Wave, Earth... What does Google have that are most likely going to be simply overlooked? Orkut - With Facebook in full force, what the hell is an Orkut? Wave... I now feel that it will be used by tech-liberal companies and educational technologists everywhere, but by your average Joe, who needs it?

Pros about Google Wave - It's like Instant Messaging, E-Mail, and IRC got together and have a weird offspring of three parents. I suppose in the tech world, tri-sexuality can happen. There are a lot of intuitive uses - like group collaboration on any media-based project (Audio, video, basic "office" files, etc.) and a lot of things done very easily as described very well in this video, like conferencing and teaching. It's much simpler than a reply-all.

The interface is absolutely fantastic, however the ability to edit ANYBODY's posts without an obvious trace of accountability is a bit iffy to me. I don't like that I can be framed for saying something that I didn't with a simple screen shot / delete action.

Google Wave is still in preview mode, and hopefully these problems will be amended soon. I really would like to see a full GMail incorporation rather than a separate @googlewave.com account. If I could communicate with people that don't have Wave via sending them a regular e-mail from it, that would be very beneficial.

All in all, I have high hopes for the product, but I can see this being a passing trend, ala Sony MiniDisc.

Best review of what this app can do that I've seen yet.