Google Wave never really took off. The hype was huge before Wave was made public and even more as they started sending out beta invitations. I had a few free Google Wave invitation giveaways and they were hugely popular.
A new post on the official Google blog now indicates that Google no longer plans on developing Wave as a standalone product, but will instead try to use some of the Wave technology in other Google products.
The reason for stopping development is lack of users. I’m not surprised – I never used it after the whole invitation giveaway was over and I don’t know anybody who does. It was fun and cool to try out in the beginning but it never really caught up.
Google promises to maintain Wave until end of the year, after that, nobody knows what will happen – maybe it will simply be shut down completely? Either way, Google will release a tool that makes it possible to export your content from within Wave, before they shut it down.
I remember using WAVE when it first came out and though it was something new, it just didn’t seem to have the special something that made it more desirable than, say, Twitter, but the tech was there, so maybe the future projects that Google come up with may have some use or may not, only time will tell 😉
What is google wave anyway? 🙂
Wow, I won’t miss it. I never knew it existed. Well at Google isn’t on top of everything.
I am with Jeff and Shane. I am not surprised it is going away becuase I didn’t even know what it was. I a not a super tech guy by any means but I read a of blogs. I’ve heard of it but can’t tell you what it is.
I think people are not yet ready for real time social networking!
I used it during the stage that you needed an invitation also. It only had a few minor beneficial features and it was not promoted very well as a whole. I feel like Wave, Buzz, and this next Google Me project are all minor shots at trying to grab part of the social media pie. I feel that the only way they will be successful is to stop making multiple sites trying to out-do facebook and twitter, and start making ways to enhance the experience and ease of use for all social media.