Why this won't have the same problems that Google Wave faced:
+ It incorporates existing modes of communication. You HAD to have a Wave account to talk to someone else on Wave, and the biggest issue for me when I got my account was that I didn't have anyone to use Wave with. Facebook doesn't particularly care in this case, it wants to aggregate ALL your communication. You'll stay in touch with your less techy friends who still email you or text you.
+ Large user base with existing friends list. Google Wave started you out from scratch.
+ Really smart product video. Most people didn't want to watch the Google Wave video or got confused by it, whereas Facebook's video is super clear about what it is. It focuses less on the cool tech (unlike Google Wave) and focuses completely on why you will want to use it.
"Today I'm excited to announce the next evolution of Messages. You decide how you want to talk to your friends: via SMS, chat, email or Messages. They will receive your message through whatever medium or device is convenient for them, and you can both have a conversation in real time. You shouldn't have to remember who prefers IM over email or worry about which technology to use. Simply choose their name and type a message."
+ It incorporates existing modes of communication. You HAD to have a Wave account to talk to someone else on Wave, and the biggest issue for me when I got my account was that I didn't have anyone to use Wave with. Facebook doesn't particularly care in this case, it wants to aggregate ALL your communication. You'll stay in touch with your less techy friends who still email you or text you.
+ Large user base with existing friends list. Google Wave started you out from scratch.
+ Really smart product video. Most people didn't want to watch the Google Wave video or got confused by it, whereas Facebook's video is super clear about what it is. It focuses less on the cool tech (unlike Google Wave) and focuses completely on why you will want to use it.