The new technology is called “Google Wave” and is a pseudo e-mail system that looks something like a constantly updated (dynamic) email. In essence it’s an attempt to solve the problem of ever expanding email messages that get bits added and added, then broken (when the message gets Forwarded to someone outside the original CC), and add some extra functionality. This video (attempts) to give a better description (judge for yourself!)

All clear? Excellent.

OK, so where is it now? Well Google has opened up a “Beta” (an initial implementation that allows them to fix bugs and make it good enough for full public release) and invited 100,000 users to give it a go. Will it catch on? Well who knows. It’s a bold move, and they’ve taken a good step in making it all open source so that others can have have a go making clients and integrating it into whatever system they’re running. Whilst they’re taking a “we’re just trying to make life better” stance, it does, to me, smack a bit of AOL’s attempt to privatise the internet.  We like GOOG but we know that they can be just as dangerous as AOL and Microsoft in their quest for world domination. The “Wave-Protocol” is not just the “Wave-Protocol”, it is the “Google Wave Federation Protocol”.

At least you can always “Opt-Out”

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village