Is Google Wave Too Complicated?

Has Google finally overstretched itself with Google Wave? “Chatting on Wave is like talking to an overcurious mind reader,” Slate writer Farhad Manjoo said of Google’s new live-typing chat software. Unlike GChat and Twitter, the Wave, which Google is currently offering in invitation-only preview mode, outputs information stroke-by-stroke in real-time—meaning that the typer has no time to perfect his or her message before hitting “send.” The other person in the chat sees every keystroke. In addition to live chat, the Wave combines different kinds of messages (“waves,” “blips,” and “pings”) with widgets and threaded conversations in an attempt to consolidate other online interfaces. Though Google says the Wave will simplify the online experience, Manjoo says he found the software too complicated.