Advertising Age asks whether Google Wave will achieve success where previous platforms have failed if it doesn’t form a symbiotic link between the technology itself and a fundamental dimension of humanity:
Looking back at it now, I realize what we failed to do last time around is to symbiotically couple this whiz-bang technology with fulfilling a fundamental dimension of our humanity. Technology by itself is sterile and a communication and collaboration play was pretty sterile sounding. This time round, though, Google Wave really has a chance to get it right if it forges a tight symbiotic link between this technology and a core element of our humanity…
For inspiration, then, let’s look at what fueled the biggest internet successes over the past few years and we’ll find our answer there. Without a doubt, recent successful companies focus on providing technology that fulfills our deeply rooted, collective and vital need to be a part of a trusted community. Joining, starting and living in a digital community is a far more powerful dynamic than the need to “connect” because connecting has no value without a community to connect to.
The comment had me thinking about discussions earlier this week. Justin Bovington of Rivers Run Red commented on a post about the possibility of a Second Life developer’s conference (in the interests of disclosure, we partner with Rivers on Immersive Workspaces(TM)):
These defined entry points – I believe greatest epoch change since 2003 – will give us all the opportunity to focus and build relevant experiences. This is arguably why the media still has trouble categorising Second Life. Some of the press still see Second Life as a “story” from 2006-2007, with little to no definition beyond Google researched news threads. As we know, it’s not that black and white. Hence why I think 2010 will be the tipping-point. Definition creates Clarity.
Beyond the SL developer community, we need to crossover from “niche conventions” and take this into the mainstream clients/sales/development conference circuit. Virtual Worlds are coming of age as a business tool; we’re seeing real ROI and real tangible benefits. The longer we hide this in the wilderness, the longer it will take to adopt. The current “niche conventions” are peer-to-peer meet ups, with no purpose other than showcasing platforms.
Success will come from proving to the market that these “platforms” have relevant and developed “solutions” for sector specific business use and challenges.
Now – I don’t know enough about Google Wave – but I really don’t think that ‘community’ is the right symbiotic link. I’m not even sure it needs one. Twitter didn’t – “real time messaging” was the tech, and the symbiotic link was created by its users.
And I used to think I knew the ’symbiotic link’ for Second Life, which was our need to create. But with all the talk about enterprise and firewalls and SL being something like a social media maybe the Lab is moving away from that.
I do relate to the concept though as the author of the Ad Age piece puts it (and see if this doesn’t sound familiar for virtual worlds):
“Ultimately, though, we failed, and unified messaging, as it was conceived, never fully took off for a few reasons. First, it required quite a steep learning curve to work it properly. Then, there was the “high daily maintenance” needed to make it worthwhile. Finally, despite the heft of the solution, consumers often said, “but what problem does it solve?” That question was not answered well back then and I hear echoes of that question today.”
AS i wrote i think here amonth or so ago, the 3d web group of 2006 is now repeating the actions of the 1999 groups..
definition = vertical markets.
i cross posted a recap of the vrworlds show of 2003– BL- before Linden.
the old class was lost because” they wanted to build 3d for everyone” in 1996. but alas- not everyone had a need or wanted it….no problem to solve..EXCEPT for more immersive games/entertainment, which was alex st johns continued pitch. he was 90% correct.
so now its back to “verticals”, but vertical markets need SPECIFIC solutions to take account of their SPECIFIC business needs….
they didnt exist in web3d offerings of 2003 and the initiative died., and i still see very few of the 2009 platforms offering more…so far. Some have some good things to offer, but its like before, some wanted from column Am some from column B and you cant mix vendors without a 1 million dollar internal dev project request.
not that immersive 3d wont consume all web media, it soon will, just as TV consumed all before it. and soon in a few decades reading a print newspaper in vr lounge chair in a vr house, will be commonplace…
but itll take the seamless 2d to 3d cross platform browser, an open standard format with specific DRM and a mu server that can run anywhere and connect to a credit card.
No one offers it. though each seperate venture builds a piece and goes to the trade shows, year after year, decade after decade….millions spent after millions.
as to the google wave….it has a long way to go before it can answer the past question “why do i want a computer in my house?”
and the answer is almost never “recipe lists” .:)
symbiosis evolved as part of natural media..im not so sure the mediated ways of the web techbiz have gotten to it yet.
Time Warner/ AOL was a poster child for the symbiote that wouldnt be.:)
I agree with you when you say “the ’symbiotic link’ for Second Life … was our need to create” though in truth, as with many social media, only a small percentage actually contribute in this way. I take this approach with my students and it is not an easy and popular path for the majority to follow. We shouldn’t, however, underestimate the significance of people who act as connectors and facilitators in social media, not to mention, in a broader sense, the “audience”. Without them, you would have the proverbial “one hand clapping”.
Definition = Marketing Gobbledygook. Unless that definition has market *research* behind it that defines the size of the market, the market’s needs, the market’s tolerances for upfront and ongoing expense, training time costs and value above and beyond existing platforms… it is just masturbatory self aggrandizing from the marketing group.
There are two major failure modes for virtual worlds: lack of compelling features beyond existing tools and the cost of implementation.
Things like Google Wave have the potential to turn every web browser into a hybrid communication tool: a tool that integrates the immediacy of IM with the persistence and sharing of collaborative documents and the ubiquity of web pages.
There are still many stumbling blocks: is the product over hyped for what it will actually deliver, will people be willing to give up privacy to have an external host provide the service (and if not, will the spin up costs of a private federated server in time and effort slow adoption)? Nonetheless, it has a lot less friction than virtual world costs.
However that friction is only part of the equation. The other half is: is this hybrid of features worth *more* than existing solutions to communication? I can see some clear use-cases for our organization (as we are distributed across many sites and we already use online tools of similar nature, but far more limited). But we are early adopters… I’m not sure Google has made a case to any but the geek community as to the advantages and risks of their technology.
John,
I’m trying to see if there is any reference to LL and their developers not doing *research*? I would be very surprised and shocked if this was the case. I would go further by saying I cannot believe you think there is no strategic planning within a company with $500million revenue? That Sir, is mind Gobbledygook.
Easy to knock LL, the reality is they’re market leaders and represent about 98% of the entire commercial activity. The real interesting thing, of the research I have done, over 90% of all commercial projects are within their platform.
I suggest we also look at the research and opinion of Gartner, ThinkBalm, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Forterra, ON24, Teleplace… all of which have excellent research. If that’s not enough, I have a 40 books on my shelves, 30 of those books relate Second Life projects.
As for your statement about *lack of features and cost implementation*?
Surely this is what Dusan is saying!? Isn’t this what he also saying is starting to happen? Dusan seems to be simply saying, we need to move away from the platform, by building hybrid solutions and products that deliver real returns. He also points to solution being developed like Immersive Workspaces. A great start, we need more stories and solutions like this.
We do though need to see competitors, I’m not talking about OpenSim. We need another standard, one that will give us alternatives. Which in turn will promote competition etc.
The interesting thing about Google, they open new product lines and close them just as a quickly. Lets see if Google keep this one alive long enough to gain *traction*.
Peter Stephens
Research Analyst
Thinking World Partners, Inc.
I’ve been using Google Wave now for some days. I’m convinced it will become an important tool for many virtual or non-virtual communities. There are some fascinating waves now about Augmented Reality, where tens of people are collaborating to find out how to integrate the Wave technology in AR-projects. Of course there are Second Life Residents active as well.
Google Wave seems to be almost addictive for all those who enjoy collaborating with others. It makes one reach out to others to join specific waves, the technology almost pushes you to do so. It is a combination of micro-blogging, email, instant-messaging, forum, wiki and sharing platform. It has the potential of being “social media on crack”. Of course, Google Wave is as yet in a preview stage. We urgently need systems to manage access levels for instance.
Don’t forget this is not just Google, it’s an open project, and the technology will be developed everywhere and be use far beyond the reach of Google-as-a-company. I don’t know whether the wave will go mainstream anytime soon, but I can imagine that more mainstream platforms such as Facebook will be inspired to move in that same direction – just as Twitter is not mainstream, and FriendFeed even less, but those services inspire more popular networks such as Facebook.
And I can also imagine that Wave will be integrated in some virtual worlds and in augmented reality applications. We ain’t seen nothing yet!