The problem is definitely there, but, after using wave for a couple of months now, I don't think it's the right solution. I would echo a lot of other reviews:

The problem is definitely there, but, after using wave for a couple of months now, I don't think it's the right solution. I would echo a lot of other reviews: it's too complex and ambitious. This applies to the protocol/platform as well as their initial client. There's just so much going on and it's trying to do so much at once that it's very unwieldy. I think simplicity is an important feature if you want new software to gain traction, and especially if you want new protocols to be adopted. I think simpler tools like http://shoptalkapp.com http://shoptalkapp.com (disclosure: co-founder) do a better job of solving the problem you describe. And the tools we use to build it, which are gradually being open sourced at http://dieselweb.org http://dieselweb.org, make real-time web apps pretty accessible to developers. Having used the wave client and read about the protocol, I just think both are too complex to really gain traction. All the bugs in Gooogle's own wave client are evidence that it's not an easy platform to write apps on, at least at this point. I'm sure they'll continue to pour tons of resources into it, and maybe they'll turn it around. Time will tell.