Google Wave--will it be a game changer?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

David Neeley wondered: <<I have been fascinated this week to see the  
video of the Google Wave developer's presentation. From what I can  
tell, it appears it may become something of a game changer in tech  
writing--especially if someone creates hooks in a tool that will allow  
complex formatting, using the Wave service as a collaboration medium.>>

If you don't want to sit through the full (1 hour+ video), more  
details at <http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html>.

<<For example, tech writers could be working on a file  
collaboratively, then add product engineers to the conversation for  
verification as it progresses or after a draft is done.>>

In such discussions, it's always important to consider three things:

1. At its core, the nature of what we do does not change:  
communication is a skill, and one that takes advantage of tools rather  
than depending on them. Pace McLuhan, the _message_ is the message.  
The "game" does not change.

2. That being said, the nature of the medium (or combination of media)  
certainly shapes how we communicate, and provides new communication  
opportunities. Everything Google Wave is claiming to do has already  
been done; in fact, each individual component may have been done  
better than Google's initial release. The key difference seems to be  
that Wave is likely to integrate everything. Much like Information  
Mapping, it will make things easier for people who don't have the  
skills to stitch everything together by themselves. Whether this  
offers us new tools will depend on how user-friendly the "developer  
tools" become: if they're designed by and for rocket scientists, it  
won't be much use to most of us.

3. The really interesting opportunities will arise as we combine  
points 1 and 2 by applying our existing skills to take advantage of  
the integration provided by Wave, and learn new skills (e.g., active  
listening) if necessary to take advantage of the new medium.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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