Exactly. That lifehacker article was terrible. People were buying the spin and the promise or real-time collaboration. The OP article made great points, and

Exactly. That lifehacker article was terrible. People were buying the spin and the promise or real-time collaboration. The OP article made great points, and in principle google wave (client and the underlying protocol) should provide everything the article outlines, HOWEVER, as is, the web client solves little or nothing. The interface is sluggish, mysteriously buggy, overly complex and it actually exacerbates one of the MAIN problems it was going to resolve, ie the endless indentations. It fails #miserably# at that, because of the incredible amount of "chrome" (icons, borders, etc etc) used in the interface, especially in large public waves, but even with a very limited set of co-workers, you'll end up with a sea of bordered bubbles impossible to read for an ordinary human being. I've used wave for 2 weeks now, I'm fully aware of all the browser short-cuts and features and my appreciation for it has waned. Contrast this with etherpad (http://www.etherpad.com http://www.etherpad.com). It has its own issues (e.g. no indication of age of edits) but it actually works and #everyone# I've introduced to that site keeps using it and I've received many kudos. Since google wave is both a client and a protocol.Perhaps an independent group can create a wave client that actually works...