Later Google Wave. Google Buzz next?
I was disappointed but not completely surprised by Google’s announcement that it was canning Google Wave as a standalone product. After all, how many of us really got into Wave after waiting with baited breath for an invite? Not many, apparently. Was it too advanced? Too ahead of its time? Or did we just not know what to do with it because it really didn’t fulfill any needs/desires that weren’t already filled by other products? It’s harder than ever to break out with a successful web app, even for Google. How long until Google Buzz goes the same way and for the same reason? Buzz is another product that, while it does some interesting things, never does anything better than Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare do. Google thought process must be, “Yes, but why use all of those products when you can just come to us for everything?” Easy: my friends aren’t there. Just like they weren’t on Google Wave.
Maybe the death of some of these products is a good thing for Google. They can start to focus in on what they do well (search, Google Apps) and someone else can turn this code (which is already open source) into something amazing. Fingers crossed.
