Regionativo

A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.  ~David Brinkley

Being a geek defines a couple of things for me: I like new and different and I keep the ability to marvel at things.

For life I have seen myself with a glitter in my eyes as I am about to open a new gadget (whether its xmas or my bday), I particularly enjoy extending the moment right before opening/switching on/activating a new gadget/app/thingamageek. To me those seconds last longer than to the people around me (although sometimes it is the other way around as they expect me to rip the freaking wrapping already), but I enjoy those moments and I savor the feeling of excitement as I am about to experience something new.

However, the life of a geek is not easy sometimes, specially when you have a new toy, you want to share its marvelousness with the rest of the world (or at least anyone surrounding you at that moment) and turns out you are the only level 7 geek in miles (kilometers for us metric-based earthlings). Is not that everyone should be a geek, but it is definitely nice when you get to showcase a new thingy with a fellow “nerd” and share the excitement (I guess is the same with people who loves NFL games or politics).

Another characteristic on a geek is the tendency to adopt new technologies, even when such technologies are still in diapers. I like to think it is us that raise these “techno-babies” into maturity and then we get to share them with the rest of the world and enjoy as we see them become the new standard (whatever it might be).

Point in case is Google Wave, I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks (sadly I was not part of the dev preview group) and I can say that I definitely like it, I love the possibilities and the potential of Wave as a protocol that defines a shift in the collaboration paradigm. In some “waves” I have expressed my true feelings for this tool, in order to avoid retyping, I am copying:

I don’t think wave is an alternative to email nor a killer to conventional communication methods, it is just a proposal (and in the best of cases: an evolution) to communication and collaboration. As with anything it will be ease of use, general adoption and the push of large enough “communities” that can drive the usage of Wave something common. I personally see it happening in the near future as it presents benefits that are not available on conventional tools today and being an early-adopter/techno-enthusiast I put my hopes in the evolution of technology rather than pure upgrading of current tools (ie. your conventional outlook vs gmail)

I think both email and wave will co-exist. Indeed it is hard to switch to this new model of collaboration where linear replies are not the norm but an option. It might be fair to say that it will take a whole generation (or probably half of it) for wave to become the standard (if it becomes a standard that replaces conventional email). Another option I can think of is that “carriers” (such as exchange or gmail) might have an option to send an email or a wave (or even convert an email to a wave when necessary -number of participants, type of collaboration). At the end of the day I think the beauty is in the availability of options, I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all type of solutions but I believe in flexibility as a key component in the design of solutions. I think wave has that flexibility as part of its foundation and that makes it (at least for me) a good candidate to succeed in its intent.

Now, I know that a tool as recent as wave will not appeal even to all early-adopters and as such I’ve seen people that disregard it because it does not provide value to their day to day routine (not that it should) and at first I thought, well, isn’t that the purpose of a preview/alpha/beta release?. I was at first set aback by the easiness with which people can come to criticize a new approach to an old need, however after some thinking I understood that it is that criticism that helps to drives the maturity of the new, it is through a thorough mindful analysis of the value added and the potential that you can help in driving the development of an innovative product. It can come from a harsh critic or a benevolent appraise of the good. In any case what is important is that it is expressed, that it is presented, evaluated and assimilated by those receiving it.