They have released a wonderfully simple looking and very well done video to introduce you to the concept.

You have to hand it to Google, they make a wonderful pitch.

If anyone can, Google can

I have said it before, if there is one company with enough clout to knock Microsoft off its top spot, its Google. They have a knack for making smart, and appealing products that just work. I have been luck enough to get an invite to Google Wave this week and I actually quiet like the idea. I know a lot of people have not been too impressed with it. I can see it has a lot of potential, but maybe not as much as Google would have you believe. I am looking forward to using it, and seeing how it goes.

With great power, comes great responsibility

Knowledge is power

But this brings me back to the other part of the problem I have with Google. They are expert at collecting your information. They are for ever finding subtle ways to capture everything about you and hold onto it forever. Wave is an excellent example of this. E-mail was designed to be independent, you can run it on every platform and it is not dependent on a central computer. So there is no one controlling it, it is a truly free system (this has its own problems, but lets not go into that). Wave (e-mails replacement as the big G would have you believe) is the exact opposite. It is entirely controlled by Google and nothing leaves their control. They have open sourced the platform, but the know no one else is really going to run it. So they have moved away from a free and open system to one they fully control.

No problem with that you say, until you consider they are now intending to do the same to your computer. Your machine will have nothing on it, every will be hosted away on the internet. But who will look after all your stuff? Google thats who. How long before they look after everything about you?

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely

Google can already tell much about you if they are able to link up all the pieces of your online life. They can read your e-mail (Gmail), they know what you like (Search), they know what you do for a living (Documents). Very soon they will have the best way to link up everything you do, your computer. “Don’t be evil” is the famous motto of the company, but this runs contrary to the real life demands of a multi-national. If you have someone in your grip, you squeeze them.

I don’t have anything against Google, they make the most amazing products. But I fear any body (public or private) with so much knowledge. There are plenty of people who just don’t care and all I can say to them is well done!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
- Thomas Jefferson