I wont include a lot of screenshots… because they’re everywhere. It’s the same basic thing, but with different content. So I’ll try to focus on how this can be useful.

For me, it’s incredibly useful – although slightly unstable at this point. Think of it as an instant messageboard with the focus being on content and more collaborative features.

What’s strange that stands out right away. Is if someone sends me a message, I can edit it. I can erase words and add new ones. It’s strange to have such a feature, but it make so much sense. I mean I’ve used it most recently with finalizing interview questions. Instead of copying and pasting, editing and then resending… like you’d have to do with emails, IM,  message boards, or whatever you just edit them. Makes so much sense. It’ll let you know who’s edited what, too… if you want to know. It works well.

What makes this so much of an awesome tool, is that it really is useful. Small businesses will gain so much from this, in my opinion anyways. It has the speed of IM, but with the functionality of email. You really can do a lot, not necessarily in it, but through it. Attaching files, images, whatever. It’s got it all.

My "wave(?)" being updated in real time by a collaborator

I also rarely consider it a webpage, although… that is what it is. It’s really a very powerful application, it just happens to be viewed through a web browser. The only way you’ll ever know you’re in a browser is if you try and select some things and also happen to select part of the user interface… something that never happens in “real” applications.

It’s a game changer, but it’s definitely not finished. What’s missing, and really needed, is the ability to create tables. Which is strange because it’s such a basic feature. Also there are parts of the day where some things just don’t work as they should. But that’s to be expected in a preview.

It wont replace email. Email has this way of being able to transform itself as needed. I can send a very informal email and then send a very formal email. The way I’ve been using wave, it is very very informal. Think email but almost with an IM style. You can start answering questions before they’re finished being typed. It saves time, but kills formality. Which is great for getting things done. But I wouldn’t use it for any sort of professional comunication… especially with that edit feature.

As questions below in the comments!

I don’t have statistics for you, but what I do have is a few personal experiences. In some cases these are viewed as viable sources (eye witnesses) so you have to trust me on this one.

While I don’t have a PHD in the web, I do have a lifetime of knowledge on it. And that is a fact, at least to me. I don’t remember a time before computers, and I don’t really remember a time before usable internet. I hopped on the train early too, I mean, I can take claim to being the first generation of hopelessly annoying script kiddies. I started making websites back when no one was really complaining about IE, and if they were it was because they were Netscape users (not that I wasn’t).

The point of this is, that I’ve used the web for a while… and during that “while”, I’ve surfed. Yup. I did it, not the outdoor kind either. I’ve surfed the inter-webs since… well since we got it.

Since… Hmm… maybe “since” is the wrong word. Maybe I’m looking for “til”. Yeah, I think that makes more sense.

I’ve surfed the web til Google Chrome came along.

Since then I’ve stopped. Until then I could wander through the web forever. I would float from tangent to tangent. Since then I can’t.

It’s scary in so many ways and here is how Chrome did it.

Browsers are like your windows to the web…

… and because people are ever so resistant to change … each browser has a monopoly over web viewing for each viewer.

For example:

IE users don’t see many of the amazing things that developers have made because IE sucks

FIREFOX users don’t see all the content that can only be displayed in stupid IE (same goes for every other browser)

CHROME users DON’T SEE THE WEB

BAM! Bold that. Underline that. Draw a star beside it if you want to pass the exam. I’ll even repeat it. Google Chrome users don’t see the web. For the people who don’t understand I’ll reword it.

If you use Chrome, you probably are looking at 70% less web than your pre-Chrome days.

Think about it. No really, think. It’s the new tab page. The greatest feature for new users. Oh man! What a time saver! BAM BAM BAM, seen all my favourites… now let’s see the rest.

Well what happens? Eventually you get stuck on those 8 (used to be nine sites) and you only use the others when specifically needed. Think, really… think. Or maybe you noticed it already. It’s scary right?

Here were the sites I used to check (pre-chrome):

Gmail, Facebook, Digg.com, this blog (ego i know haha), Twitter, Youtube, Wikipedia, Smashing Magazine, amazon, flickr, as well as many many other social networking sites or tutorial sites.

Go ahead ask me… What about post chrome?

Here were the sites I now check (post-chrome):

Facebook, Gmail, 3 of my personal sites, my University site, Google analytics, and twitter.

… and ontop of that… two of those sites are both google sites.

Although great, fast, and simple. Chrome has re-created bordom.

I find myself more than often being bored in front of the most powerful information system known. This never happened on Firefox. This never happened on IE.

Even though I know I’m not surfing around anymore, I don’t know how to start again. I only go to youtube when linked, or Wikipedia when curious about a specific subject. I honestly don’t know how to surf.

Maybe it’s a mix of Twitter’s link sharing, and Chrome’s secret ability to trick your brain into thinking the web is only 8 websites.

What do you think? What was better?

Was the web better before or after Chrome for you guys?

Post your reply in the comments!

On September 14th Google pumped out another amazing web service. It’s still in labs, which is where most of their experiments hang out (www.googlelabs.com), but this one is uniquely different than most of Googles test experiments.

It’s Surprisingly useful and handy!

And I’m not just saying that. It’s a much better way of reading articles online. With extreme speed and simplicity that Google is known for you can easily flip through stories from around the web. Something that before could only really be done by navigating to each site independently, or going to a digg.com style of site. What we really need is the headline and a little bit of the content to judge if it’s worth our time reading. The problem with news online, is that it’s an all or nothing affair. You commit to loading the page, or you skip it. This is before you’ve even given it a chance! Larry Page asked Google engineers why reading websites isn’t as easy as reading a magazine. When Larry Page ponders, Google engineers kick into action.

What Have They Come Up With?

A real magazine experience on the web! It’s something you can’t explain with words, so I wont try. Video on the other hand, should do the trick:

Google FastFlip Launch Video

What makes the service, and why I find it useful.

One big thing blows me away. The Mobile Version. Absolutely stunning, and revolutionary. It’s something that can’t be done on any phone. Even with built in apps you can still read articles faster and just as smooth on FastFlip mobile. That’s what is so great about the service. Is that I can be bored, waiting for class to start, and open up my phone and surf the web. But for the first time I can surf and not be in pain because of the speed. Even with 3G, reading a full article on any webpage, takes far too long. Mobile optimized pages help… but  only slightly. FastFlip takes care of everything, and really brings the newspaper back into peoples hands.

What is different between my generation and my fathers (although he’s catching up) is that my generation is used to and rather enjoys reading news online. It’s more up to date and it can be quickly scanned, searched, and archived. However, I can’t read news when I’m not at home. Where-as my father can take his newspaper anywhere he wants. Well, it’s a tie game now pops.

What is available?

Straight from the horses mouth (as of Sept 16th) the following papers are available:

BBC News	FRONTLINE	Newsweek	TechCrunch
Billboard	Fast Company	Popular Mechanics	Technology Review
Business Week	Foreign Policy	ProPublica	Teen
Center for Investigative Reporting	Good Housekeeping	Quick & Simple	The Atlantic
Center for Public Integrity	Harper’s Bazaar	Redbook	The Daily Beast
Christian Science Monitor	House Beautiful	SPIN	The Daily Green
CosmoGirl	Marie Claire	Salon	Us Magazine
Cosmopolitan	Men’s Journal	Seventeen	Veranda
ELLE	National Review Online	Slate	Washington Post
Esquire	New York Times	Smithsonian

Still have more Questions?

Check it out at fastflip.googlelabs.com and read/or the following faq from google:

How does it work?
We capture images of the articles on our partners’ websites and then display them in an easy-to-read way. The stories are grouped by categories, such as Entertainment, Business, Opinion, Politics and Most Viewed. Readers can flip through stories quickly by simply pressing the left- and right-arrow keys until they find one that catches their interest. Clicking on the story takes them directly to the publisher’s website.

How are the Topics selected? Can I choose my own?
The Topics are generated automatically by rising stories in the news. Users can also search for any subjects they want and basically create their own topics, almost like a custom magazine, on the fly.

How are stories recommended in the Recommended section?
The stories in this section are recommended by users of Google Fast Flip in direct and indirect ways. We take cues from how often they read stories, e-mail stories and register a public vote for stories by clicking on the “Like” button on each article.

Can I recommend stories that I like to other people?
Google Fast Flip allows readers to vote on an article to tell the world they liked it. Clicking on the “Like” button on a story page lodges a public vote for that story, which is one of the factors in whether Fast Flip includes stories the “Recommended” section. At the bottom of the home page, Fast Flip users who are signed in to their Google Account can see which stories friends in their Gmail contact list have “liked.”

How do you personalize results on Google Fast Flip?
We are able to take the cues you give us – such as the stories you read, recommend and e-mail – to present sections, news sources and specific authors tailored specifically to your interests. To enable personalization of the articles you see, you must sign in to your Google Account. You can easily create a Google Account on this page if you don’t already have one.

Is this available for all languages and editions of Google News?
At launch, Google Fast Flip is available on the Google Labs website with English-language content. International users should be able to see this feature in Google Labs.

Does Google Fast Flip work on mobile devices?
At launch, Google Fast Flip will work on iPhone and Android mobile devices. Going forward, we’ll explore rolling out support for other mobile platforms.

Where can I see a full list of the publishers included?
You can see a full list of the sources at http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/sources.

They’ve annouced and previewed some features of their soon-to-be wordprocessing suite “Office 2010″.  And to be honest I quite like 2007, it’s a huge improvment over 2003 and I’m curious to see what 201o has instore.

Microsoft is trying to be more hip and trendy mostly (I’m sure) because of serious pressure from Apple. However, they should have never not been… I mean their a silicon valley company, in the tech business. It’s half the requirement is it not?

You can obviously tell that Microsoft is trying. They’ve got the budget there, I mean the picture quality is excellent. The script isn’t bad either. They’ve spent their time… and maybe even  tried really hard. But they seem so nervous that their not going to be normal, they act un normal…

The collared shirts are the same, I mean it’s hard to say how Microsoft missed the mark, I mean it seems as though they’re trying too hard.

Take a look at what I mean, followed by what their going for.

Microstiff

I’m sorry I just start laughing just as she gets to her name… it’s downhill from the start.

Apple

Google

It’s been talked about, It’s been rumoured to come. But this is it here. The storm has been brewing with out us knowing… and this is the first full “cloud” that’s been formed. Things will change because of this. Mark my words… nothing will be the same on the web again.

Bold words, bold predictions. But with Google wave there is no need for most people having conventional computers. It has word processing, image hosting, email, anything and everything a user needs without them even knowing they are online. The changes are so fast the google team is considering slowing down the speed of the application to make it less distracting.

Will it be used? Doubtful. Will it become as big as twitter, or facebook, or email? No. Will it change the entire way developers look at the web? It already has.

And that’s the big point. It’s not that it will directly change the computing world, it’s that it will spawn things that will. People will see Google Wave as the start of something new.

Repeat: You are looking at an HTML browser

Watch the video’s after the jump.

But the Question is: Do you think you’ll end up using Wave when it arrives? Reply in the comments below!