I think you've hit the nail on the head. All of the parts, while impressive, amount to only a part of the story. You've got a better approach to IM & email. You've got an API that provides real-time collaborative editing. You've got an API that leverages Google's front-end tools (Google Web Toolkit) and the scalability of Google's back-end tools (AppEngine). And you've got an API to integrate it all together. Each is nice and useful in its own right. But if they are combined together...
I'll be very interested to see if Google releases some facsimile of Google Docs that are Wave-enabled and allow for full real-time editing/collaboration. Combine that with the email & SMS killer, and I believe Google has a viable alternative to Office + Exchange + Windows. The unifying element of the Wave acts to capture a company's workflow. In the end, business will want to use this instead of the MS solution because it provides more business value that the sum of the parts (IM + email + office suite + workflow), and it does so in a way that MS cannot. Companies can extend the Wave to add further business value to the whole approach with the Wave API. Finally, with the whole thing being open-sourced, companies will be able to run their own servers (something I think is critical to mass acceptance of the technology within corporations).
It is an ambitious project. I hope Google succeeds. I am watching it closely, and look forward to my own invitation. I already can see a number of areas where I would like to build my robots & gadgets.
I'll be very interested to see if Google releases some facsimile of Google Docs that are Wave-enabled and allow for full real-time editing/collaboration. Combine that with the email & SMS killer, and I believe Google has a viable alternative to Office + Exchange + Windows. The unifying element of the Wave acts to capture a company's workflow. In the end, business will want to use this instead of the MS solution because it provides more business value that the sum of the parts (IM + email + office suite + workflow), and it does so in a way that MS cannot. Companies can extend the Wave to add further business value to the whole approach with the Wave API. Finally, with the whole thing being open-sourced, companies will be able to run their own servers (something I think is critical to mass acceptance of the technology within corporations).
It is an ambitious project. I hope Google succeeds. I am watching it closely, and look forward to my own invitation. I already can see a number of areas where I would like to build my robots & gadgets.