My trek through the jumbled mess of boxes that is Google Wave continues in earnest. In order to figure out what this program does, we here at the Free Line devised a series of tests that will pit Wave against a list of “traditional” equivalents — email, instant messaging program, wiki, and Twitter, respectively. The tests themselves are based upon a one to five scale, with five being the best. All of the points will be totaled at the end of today’s tests. With that said, here we go.

Test #1: Real Time Talking (aka “Instant Messaging”)

IM: As you’ve probably guessed, this is exactly the kind of thing that instant messaging programs were made for. All you have to do is type and press “enter.” It’s that easy.
Email: Instant communication does indeed work, but it’s rather complex. Sending one-line messages back and forth is a great way to fill up your email box.
Twitter: Having a conversation via Twitter is like talking to a friend in the mall: Anyone could be listening at any given moment.
Wiki: You can do it, but I honestly have no idea why you would want to.
Wave: Writing a Wave is like writing an email. Nearly everything that can be done in a standard letter can be done in a Wave, from forwarding messages to applying advanced formatting and everything in between. There are apparently a litany of “Wave only” things that one can do — nested quotes, polls, something called “session recording” — but we still have no idea how those features work.

Scoring: Instant messaging (five points), Wave (four points), Twitter (three points), email (two points), and wiki (one point).

Test #2: (Private) Delayed Messaging

IM: While most modern instant messengers contain an “offline message delivery system,” it still isn’t the best way to send a message for later.
Email: Let’s face facts: This is exactly what email was made for.
Twitter: It works, but again, everyone will see it.
Wiki: Wikis work as well, but it’s more akin to attaching a Post-It Note onto a bulletin board than sending a private memo to a friend.
Wave: Remember what I said about offline instant messaging? It’s like that, only it actually works properly. The message is right there waiting for me in my inbox, just like I never left.

Scoring: Email (five points), Wave (four points), wiki (three points), Twitter (two points), instant messaging (one point).

Test #3: Public Messaging

IM: Not a good idea. It’s hard enough to have three people participating in the same conversation at the same time, let alone a few million.
Email: It works a bit better than your average instant messenger, but not by much.
Twitter: This is Twitter’s moment to shine. It was quite literally made for this kind of messaging, after all.
Wiki: Your message can potentially reach a nice cross section of people, but responding to it can be a tad difficult.
Wave: Again, sending a “public Wave” is on par with sending a mass email: Add everyone you wish to address to your “participants list,” type your message, then press “send.” While this kind of thing isn’t considered to be spam now, it will be later on.

Scoring: Twitter (Five points), wiki (four points), Wave (tie; three points), email (tie; three points), and instant messenger (instant messenger).

…So at the end of day one, our scoring is starting to look a bit like this:

Wave: Eleven points
Email: Ten points
Twitter: Ten points
Wiki: Eight points
Instant Messenger: Seven points

Analysis: …Wow. Didn’t see that one coming.

…And there you have it. Come back tomorrow to see if Wave can continue it’s short reign on top. Until then, I bid thee a fond adieu.