Over the past week Google has been rolling out the first invitations to its latest service, a complex "real-time communication and collaboration" system dubbed Google Wave.

Instead of sending messages back and forth, users create web-page-like documents called waves that others can modify or comment on, using a combination of features more usually seen separately in email, wikis, instant messaging and social networking (see a video introducing Wave).

Early reviews have been positive, and demand for invitations outstrips supply (Google says ours is still on the way). But even for those who have tried and liked it, Wave's potential is still hard to assess. The problem is that most talk about it is focussed on technology, not people.

via newscientist.com

A terrific analysis by New Scientist. I've just got an invitation to Google Wave (thanks again, @jas!), so this is a useful article.

See also - Watch your communication-ness soar.

Give me a wave at mlitman@googlewave DOT com