September 21, 2009


Why you need to pay attention to Google Wave

The reason is not because Google Wave is new, but because it uses XMPP:

One of the most fascinating features of XMPP is the way things are addressed. EVERYTHING is addressable over the network. You can talk directly to ANYTHING, and ANYONE. I can’t stress how big of a shift that would be from the current model. It’s HUGE. I wrote a whole series of posts on this a few years ago, and it’s just as exciting now as it was then.

Let’s take a step back and think about this for a second. I’ll probably do another post just on the addressing scheme at some point because it’s so key, but it’s worth a brief recap.

  • Right now I cannot send text directly to your instant message account (unless you’re using an XMPP-based client), I have to send the message to your IM server which relays the message to you.
  • I cannot send audio directly to your phone, the phone company has to route it there.
  • I cannot share a picture directly with your Facebook account, I have to sent it to Facebook first to be carried on to you.
  • I can’t send a file directly to you, I have to put it on a share or email it to you.
  • (Not to mention the fact that these are all disconnected, you can’t combine these into a single message stream. XMPP addresses that problem very nicely, as the wave client shows.)

XMPP removes these intermediaries from the network. Social networks and proprietary transports no longer have an exclusive license to deliver content, the clients talk directly to one another.

Do you see the difference? There are no longer social networks or any other type of networks required to relay the communication, we are now down to exactly 3 components:

1. Clients
2. Storage
3. Applications

Of course there is always the underlying dumb pipes that transport the data, but from a functional perspective the network has been normalized out of importance.

It’s also worth noting that some folks don’t like the above articulation, for example.

posted by Andrew Simone in internet, technology 

comments

4 Responses to “Why you need to pay attention to Google Wave”

  1. Looming Tech on September 21st, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    Interesting… I should have mentioned that in my article. Ah, well, into the comments it goes ; )

    http://www.loomingtech.com/2009/09/21/a-world-of-google-wave/

  2. Dave Vogt on September 21st, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    super except that already-running XMPP servers aren’t always interoperating nicely.

  3. thinksketchdesign on September 21st, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    This really is important to wrap our heads around. Anyone who wants to be ahead of the curve, has to anticipate how this will change the internet in the next few years. I posted some digestible clips from the Google Wave Demo Video if anyone wants to learn more about google wave, but doesn’t have an hour to watch the whole thing -

    http://www.thinksketchdesign.com/2009/06/09/web/media/google-wave-coming-soon-it-will-supercharge-your-email-then-shake-the-webs-very-foundation

  4. google Wave. The last night of email? | davaidavai.com on October 1st, 2009 at 3:31 am

    [...] It’s only one more day until google Wave launches. 100,000 users will be the first to receive an invite and I hope I will be among them (try to get your invite here). Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and (mobile) collaboration. A wave will be both, conversation and a document where people can interact, share and integrate formats of all sorts (pics, videos, audio…) – and everything real time. [...]

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