Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And now it is time for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. And for this mornings flashback we are going to role back to a recent BusinessMakers Overtime show, that's that cool podcast hosted by Esther Steinfeld and Katie Laird. In this particular one they are talking about the new Google Wave. We enter the conversation where Esther is setting the stage.

Esther: There is something that is just shaking the world up right now. Something that is making even the most mild mannered person beg.

Katie: (Laughter) Publicly.

Esther: Publicly beg. It's sick, quite frankly. No, I'm just kidding. It's not. I did it, too.

Katie: That's okay.

Esther: Everyone's doing it. And what is it?

Katie: So, one of the newest technologies out there, of course, is from Google because I mean, who else –

Esther: As we talked about last week, Google has their little hand in every cookie jar.

Katie: Every single cookie jar. But this time, it's something completely their own and completely new. Something called Google Wave.

Esther: Woo, wavy.

Katie: Exactly. So you would go to http://wave.google.com and the way that the Google Wave engineers describe the tool is, I quote, "What email would look like if it were invented today." Esther, did you know that email is almost 40 years old?

Esther: Unbelievable.

Katie: I mean the way that we've been communicating, like nowadays we're all so relying on email but whenever you think about it, like, shouldn't it be more interactive? Shouldn't we demand more from it, just like we do everything else we demand so much from our technology and now Google's like, "All right, guys, here it is." So really, what Google Wave is is kind of more than just an email system. I would think of it more of as like a document collaboration tool, where not only are you just sending messages back and forth, you're actually compiling information in one data collection. You're working on one document in a group of however large you want.

Esther: And it's not just a share drive. It's not –

Katie: It's not.

Esther: - it's not like putting an Excel spreadsheet on a share drive and pulling it off and putting it back on and –

Katie: Exactly. It's live.

Esther: It's tons and tons of rich media.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: It's not just text. It's also – well, it's rich text. It's also video. It's also photos. It's editing of all kinds of different mediums, which is so cool.

Katie: Yes. No, it's really exciting and something that I think is really neat is, it's very, very heavy on, you know, kind of instant messaging and I know there's one feature where you can actually speak to people in whatever country they're in and if they type in their native language, it will translate it into what your language is.

Esther: Wow.

Katie: It – to the best of its abilities, of course, so you can imagine there may be some awkward moments between business colleagues. (Laughter)

Esther: Yes.

Katie: But that's another story. That's not Google Wave's problem.

Esther: It's quite unbelievable.

Katie: So it's really exciting, 'cause of course, this is just the beginning. I mean, they've just launched this. It's still in beta. When you were talking about, you know, begging for Google Wave, you have to have an invite. So this may take you back a couple years to Gmail. I can't believe Gmail's only been around, what, like two, under three years now?

Esther: Unbelievable.

Katie: And it was so hot. It was so important and critical that everyone was on it and, you know, they would fight for it and go on Ebay and bid on 'em. And this is like the newest Gmail. I mean this is the new Gmail.

Esther: Who has Google Wave invites. Please invite me.

Katie: (Laughter)

Esther: You have to, like, ask – you have to prove your case why, why you should get a Google Wave invite. It's crazy.

Katie: So do you have a Google Wave invite?

Esther: No.

Katie: Would you like one?

Esther: Yes.

Katie: I have one.

Esther: I want one!

Katie: I'll send it to you. (Laughter)

Esther: Send me one!

Katie: John's waving frantically. Me too. All right, guys. You're in, you're in.

Esther: I'm in good. Yeah.

Katie: You're in the club.

Esther: You know, I didn't even really think about getting one or even wanting it until, I was like, "Ah, I'll just wait until it comes out for everybody." Didn't really mind but now I kinda want one.

Katie: It's really cool but the thing is, it's not very intuitive when you first start using it. So you're gonna get on and it's gonna be funny. Every single new person you encounter that gets on Google Wave, the first five of their waves, you know, these things you initiate to collaborate and talk to one another on, are always gonna be, "What the heck is th-?" "Am I doin' this right?" you know, in all caps, or –

Esther: It's like –

Katie: It's like Twitter.

Esther: - it's like people get on, "I'm eating breakfast."

Katie: Yeah! (Laughter)

Esther: Can anybody see this?

Katie: Hello?

Esther: This is my first Tweet.

Katie: Exactly. So my recommendation is to go to a website called completewaveguide.com and this is actually, I mean, it kind of is what it sounds like. It is ten chapters that have been written, very, very quickly, since this technology's come out, but that walks you through every single aspect of Google Wave.

Esther: Awesome.

Katie: And the cool thing is, tyin' it all back in together, Gina Trapani, who is the founder and editor of Lifehacker, one of my favorite sites ever, she's one of the authors of this Complete Wave Guide.

Esther: Oh.

Katie: So, not only does she make your life better with your Ikea furniture, but she's teachin' you how to use the newest Google hot thing. (Laughter)

Esther: Neat. And you know, it doesn't just have business applications. I mean, you could plan your family vacation.

Katie: And friends. Exactly.

Esther: You could decide – you could, you could discuss which restaurants you're going to eat at. "No, I don't wanna eat at this one. I wanna eat at this one." You can post it on there.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: Plan your entire vacation that way or family reunion or whatever. You could plan school project.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: You can brainstorming sessions for your non-profit. Anything that requires collaboration with people that even people that you are near.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: You know, just to keep it all in one place and organized.

Katie: Well that passive communication. Like sometimes you don't want to be on the phone or talking to somebody all day long but, you know, just being able to communicate like that so richly is so valuable. And I think it's funny 'cause a lot of business owners that may be cutting down on overhead, working more from home or, you know, stick to the home office, this will totally remind you of what it's like to sort of share an office with somebody.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Like, it's that intimate. Like you – it's just that connected of a communication.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: So I'm excited.

Russ: Alright and that wraps up our review of a BusinessMakers Overtime session. And that also concludes this weeks Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. Stay tuned in for our featured guest segment with the co-founders of simply interactive. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.