Exclusive interview with the Google Wave inventor Lars Rasmussen
Posted by Jeppesen in News
Interview: Danish Lars Rasmussen is in the process of shaping the development of the Internet with Google Wave. Version2 met him in Vienna and heard what the future plans for Google's new tool would be.
Lars Rasmussen, along with Stephanie Hannon, product manager for Google Wave.
Google Wave is now at a very early stage where nobody knows what it will lead to, but the opportunities to rethink ways to communicate digitally has not gone unnoticed by the industry, Lars Rasmussen said, at a SAP TechEd conference.
Today, Google has several hundred thousand beta testers for Google Wave through invitations. Lars Rasmussen hope to expand before too long, though it requires a shift to some more powerful servers.
"We have a fairly small technical setup and can not handle a lot of users right now. We are in the situation that we every day send a few more invitations until the system crashes. No, now I am exaggerating a bit, but it is the way we test how the load actually is. You can use scripts to simulate many users, but it does not show how people actually use it. This is what our preview is about right now, " Lars explains.
If all goes well, we will extend to millions of users at the beginning of 2010.
Today, Google has several hundred thousand beta testers for Google Wave through invitations. Lars Rasmussen hope to expand before too long, though it requires a shift to some more powerful servers.
"We have a fairly small technical setup and can not handle a lot of users right now. We are in the situation that we every day send a few more invitations until the system crashes. No, now I am exaggerating a bit, but it is the way we test how the load actually is. You can use scripts to simulate many users, but it does not show how people actually use it. This is what our preview is about right now, " Lars explains.
If all goes well, we will extend to millions of users at the beginning of 2010.
"And then we can - hopefully - provide free access by the end of 2010. We'll see.I can not promise anything" Lars says, adding that right now is two million on the waiting list to join the Wave Club.
30,000 companies are queuing
Future Plans for Google Wave is very open. There are no firm plans, and much will depend on which side that is most in demand on the Google Wave projects, "says Lars Rasmusssen.
"Normally, it is consumers who first shows interest in the products, Google is developing, but with Google Wave, we have been surprised - positively surprised - how many companies have approached. We have received over 30,000 inquiries from companies who want to work with Google Wave, even at this early stage, " Lars says.
But perhaps it is not entirely surprising that the result of the Google Wave project also appeals to enterprises, he said.
'On the Google Wave Team of around 60 persons, we use the Google wave to all communications and collaboration, emphasizing that the functions can be used in businesses.
For example, if the Wave team will write a blog post, they are maybe five, working on it through Google Wave. And here the new tool makes a big difference, Lars Rasmussen believes.
"It is unbelievable, so much faster it is, compared to if you had a Word document, and shared it via email. There are some tasks that just gets solved so much faster. We call it Wave moments, "says the Danish developer.
Does he speculate about how Google Wave will be used in companies sometime in the future? "It will primarily be collaboration on documents, and specialized applications, such as those which SAP has developed to draw diagrams or download data from ERP systems."
"On my own Waves right now, it is most collaboration on documents, discussions and development of design documents, but there are millions of applications at Google, that I would love was closely integrated with the Wave, e.g. Our transfer of documents dealing with complaints and so on would make everything faster, "he says.
Everyone should be able to own Wave-server
As it looks now, Google Wave is only running on Google's servers. But it is planned that all should eventually be able to run their own Wave servers.
'The question of whether to run its own Google Wave servers pop up frequently.We have designed the protocol, so it is possible to run the wave-server inside the firewall and with private waves. We will not build such a wave-server, but we will be happy if others will. If demand is high enough, we'll probably even offer to help with a private Wave server, but it is too early to say now, "he explains.
It is also an explanation for the Wave protocol to be open source.
"When we saw what Google Wave was, we could see that it was unlikely that all companies would run their own Wave-server as the algorithms are quite delicate. We then decided to make the most of the code to open source. We are not quite done yet, besides the central part, but over the next year we will do more and more of the code open, to help companies build their own Wave-server, "said Lars Rasmussen.
Another explanation is that it is obvious that Google Wave must have a solid number of users before it becomes interesting for people to use.
The original idea for the project was to develop the protocol, as it would look like if the e-mail was invented today.
"The biggest challenge, technically, is real-time editing. It is notoriously difficult to implement, and we have spent a great deal of time on it. While several people working on the same wave, we must ensure that it is consistent at all time, and simultaneously becomes searchable in real time. It is difficult, "he says.
How Google will make money on Google Wave and if any will be allowed to run their own Google-Wave server is not crystal clear yet, but Lars Rasmussen points to a business model like Google Apps, where businesses buy a package from Google and then pay per user, without having to think about technique.
"It started to become a profitable business for us. By including Google wave in Google Apps, we can use it to increase sales, "he explains.
Lars Rasmussen is quite convinced that Google Wave eventually become a fully integrated part of Google Apps.
Another opportunity to monetize Google Wave will be like Google's Android Marketplace and Apple's App Store.
"There is a great demand that we develop such a marketplace, and so perhaps we can also make money that way," he says.
How does it feel to work on something that you have no idea where it is going?
"I love it," says Wave inventor with a laugh
Interview made by JESPER KILDEBOGAARD from Version 2
