Originally developed as a “successor to e-mail,” Google is preparing to close down the social service Google Wave. Users did not accept the service as Google expected.
When it was first presented at Google I/O in 2009, Wave created much rumors. It was the try to create a modern successor for e-mail, with open protocols and interfaces, as well as a software mostly published as Open Source. E-mail was meant to merge with Instant Messaging, happen in real-time, and spam should be excluded by design. For Google I/O in May 2010, Google opened Wave’s beta test for all interested users.
Wave would either become a great success or a great fail, the Wave team said back then. Now the end of Wave is coming. Though numerous applications have shown what the technique is able to do, but users have by far not accepted Google Wave as favorably as the team hoped, besides a small number of loyal fans.
“We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects,” Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations & Google Fellow, stated recently. Additionally, Google will provide tools for exporting their data from Wave before it is closed.