Basically Google Wave.... a collaborative tool has been shelved - a few weeks ago now. Below is my take.
Most people, however, would not have heard of Google Wave (it never made it to the main stream).... as well no-one apart from some hard core masochists are still using it.
It is fair to say a small fortune was spent developing it - but there were some really bad signs.
The classic bad sign - is when the leader of the project.... had some premature press conferences... giving some premature launch dates. The reasoning behind this... some fixed dates.... would speed up the RnD and actually deliver the dam product. However, this type of rationale, can also be a sign that the project has lost its way.... that the engineers are beginning to question the project .... what the hell is it we are building here????...the thing is not rising in the oven do we keep cooking it?????.... etc etc.....
The purpose of Wave.... was to create a new mode of electronic communication.... as email had been around for too dam long.
My first impression of Wave ... was man.... this looks pretty plain... and slightly clunky..... another Google Ajax thingy.
Only a few people I knew were using it.... I created a Wave or two... but.. really found the whole thing quite boring really.... and I guess slow - compared to email.
It's funny - the people on Wave... were sort of trying to be excited by the product.... really trying... because it was something from Google... but eventually it was nah...
Perhaps for me... Google really needed to do something better with the interface..... perhaps they needed to look at theWPF (silverlight) or look at 3D interfaces etc.... Perhaps they needed HTML5..... but to me Ajax... did not look powerful enough to realize the communication's vision they had.