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cumbersome, if not impossible, to manage. The mechanism for collaboration is awkward and the risk of confusion high, particularly when there are more than two stakeholders involved.
On the 27th of May, Google revealed their secret idea. Their solution is to provide a "hosted conversation"
which exists in only one place. Users are then invited to join the discussion which is updated in real-time. As fast as you can type, your colleagues will see the words on their screens. The process becomes a dialogue, even faster than 'Instant Messaging'.
In the spirit of collaboration, several people can edit the document simultaneously, like a real-time Wiki, and if new
users are invited to the conversation they can catch up by replaying any part of the sequence. This dynamic, evolving, document is called a "Wave".
This level of immediacy and transparency naturally makes people cautious, and of course there will be a significant learning curve to climb for all but the most web savvy users. Google have taken steps to smooth the way with a traditional 'send button' for those that prefer to carefully compose their thoughts before publishing them. More cleverly, they have solved the spelling issue altogether. As you are typing, Wave compares your sentence structure with information gathered from the entire web. No sooner have you entered "we need new stationary" it will recognise that you really meant "stationery" and replace the offending typo instantly.
