The web world has always been quick to call something a “game changer” or a “killer app” at a moment’s notice.  These sorts of declarations come largely from the early adopter crowd; a group of individuals who play a critical role in the advancement of technology.  Often times, making these sorts of statements are either: 1) unwarranted, 2) unjustified, or simply 3) premature.

But yesterday, when Google demoed their Wave product at the IO conference in San Francisco [video below], everybody watching knew that today was not like any other day.  It was very clear that the game had just changed, and drastically at that.  Google’s Wave was a project started over two years ago attempting to “re-invent” e-mail as we knew it.  In doing so, the Australian-based team at Google uncovered an amazing communication and collaboration platform.

[too long? ... read this great Google Wave breakdown courtesy of Mashable]

The service boasts the most interactive and real-time communication experience we have ever seen.  Remember thinking that it couldn’t get any more real-time than Twitter?  Or maybe even FriendFeed?  Wave literally blows these communication outlets out of the water (no pun intended) in terms of its connectivity and real-timeyness with it’s character-by-character chat-style communication flow.  No longer do you have to wait for an individual to post the reply, comment, or update; because if you are both on the “wave” at the same time, you are watching each other type, character by character, virtually lag-free!  Overload?  Maybe.  Game-changing?  Absolutely.

In addition to Wave’s powerful social implications lies Wave’s incredible enterprise capabilities.  Wave revamps online collaboration, now making wikis feel archaeic in nature.  The business implications on such a platform are immediately apparent.

How did Google do it?

• First, the team looked at the most dominant form of communication on the internet today: e-mail.
• Then the team asked, “What if email were invented today instead of 40 years ago?”
• Then they set out to essentially “re-invent” email using all of today’s communication tools the web has to offer
• As a result, the team created the most complete communication platform in history.

Just how pervasive will Google Wave become?

Is there a chance Google Wave won’t take off?  Yeah, I guess there’s a chance…but a very slight one.  Google’s focus on open source architecture and developer interaction leads me to believe that we are in for one long ride, on one very big wave.

An article in TechCrunchIT has raised a pretty spirited debate amongst the technology consumerist community.  TCIT author, Steve Gillmor explains how his Twitter stream has become his de-facto information outlet, replacing his need for an RSS feed.  With a title as dramatic as, “Rest in Peace, RSS,” it’s no suprise at the attention this post has received.  With 500+ comments, it has sparked many conversations concerning the future of RSS and the value of Twitter’s real-time platform.

So are we really supposed to believe that Twitter has killed RSS?  Have real-time tweets replaced the aggregated RSS feed?

Very simply, the answer is NO.  RSS is superior to Twitter in regards to information consumption.

Suggesting that Twitter has killed RSS, is almost like suggesting that Direct Messages (DMs) have replaced email.  Twitter’s platform, at this stage, is just too raw and undeveloped to treat it as one’s primary source of information.  The “noise” is simply too loud, and often overwhelming, making it nearly impossible to find the desired “signals.”  Wading through this noise is not only hard, it’s extremely time consuming.  Until we have the effective search technologies and filters to utilize, RSS remains the simplest and quickest way to consume content from around the web.

Although I disagree with Steve Gillmor’s RSS-ditching behavior, I do believe that this discussion is rather interesting.  Probably because I feel that RSS is NOT the most efficient model for information gathering/sharing.  RSS shows many promising features but lacks certain functionalities that we expect from today’s social web.  So while I will challenge those who claim they receive greater value in Twitter’s platform compared to an RSS feed, I will agree that we have the ability to improve upon RSS’s current offering.  The solution likely lies in an effective integration of both the reat-time and the aggregated feed platforms.

So before we are able to separate the noise from the news, I wouldn’t call RSS dead just yet.

During Michael Arrington’s interview with Kevin Rose, the Digg-founder states, “I believe that it’s time for Digg to get a little bit more real-time in nature. And we need to be a living and breathing site.”  He goes on to say that he expects Digg to see these changes somewhere in the next six months.

There’s no denying the fact that most future web services will instinctively adopt a real-time functionality.  Just one look at microblogging and/or activity streaming, and one notices just how useful the real-time web can be.  Digg’s current offering definitely lacks this dynamic, so it is an obvious and necessary next step.  One can only wonder just what exactly this new iteration will include.

In regards to Arrington’s inquiries involving the future direction of Digg, Rose explains: “…new directions for us that you will look at and I guarantee you would be like that’s a ballsy move.”

So what will the “New Digg” be like?

You can safely bet that the site will become more interactive by nature.  Most likely, the site will develop a real-time platform for ‘digging’ content while showing activity feeds of Digg members (not unlike Twitter/FriendFeed).  I presume that content will extend beyond just news into all sorts of categories.  In fact, the interview had also mentioned (pretty unclearly, however) thoughts of digging certain advertisements/campaigns.  Overall, I see the service eliminating certain barriers, becoming even more transparent.  I can even see them utilize the tools they have developed in Digg Labs, like Stack [pic], for example.  Used effectively, this could bring a new dynamic to the sometimes-static nature of Digg.

It is definitely time for Digg to become more social and interactive.  I just wonder if it will be enough to grab the attention of the masses, something that Kevin Rose so desperately wants to achieve.

“I believe that it’s time for Digg to get a little bit more real-time in nature. And we need to be a living and breathing site.”
-Kevin Rose

What is the Real-time Web?

If you’re not quite sure what the ‘real-time’ web is, maybe you’ve heard it called life-streaming, micro-blogging, or tweeting.  It really doesn’t matter what you call it.  The ‘real time’ web (RTW) is all about one thing: the fast transfer of knowledge.  It’s really as simple as that.  How fast can I notify, update, and/or interact with a community of like-minded individuals?  It’s a direct extension of the blogging format, with far less barriers, a constant stream of information, searchability, a much larger audience…and we are just at the BEGINNING of this phenomenon.

We are just at the beginning…

At the forefront of this RTW revolution is Twitter.  What this once modest, still barebones service was able to do in such a short time is truly astounding.  It has surpassed that “trend” phase and is slowly creeping into a [dare I say it?] mainstream service.  You may think to yourself – “So what, who cares if people use Twitter?”

What’s the point?

I guess the point that I want to hit home the most is that this really is the future of our web interactions.  It took us a few years, but we are finally leveraging this technology and connecting with other human beings instead of relying on computers, algorithms, and search results to deliver our online data (hmm…Google).  The RTW has enabled us to connect with individuals who we would never of been able to connect with otherwise.  People, for the most part are pretty amazing and you’ll be surprised how much people will give back.  Perfect example: After following theCRICKETtoy on Twitter (accidentally, I must admit),  I receive an instant direct message from the company’s owner asking if I would like one of their CRICKETtoy™ products for FREE.  Not really expecting anything out of it, I direct messaged my address back, and received the little guy in the mail in just days! (Thanks Jeff)  Point is, people want to connect with people, and the RTW finally allows us to do just that.  It doesn’t matter if your promoting a company, a service, a blog, or a product; what the RTW forces you to do is promote yourself first.  People do this by helping others, giving advice, offering their services, whatever it may be, people want to be part of this amazing ‘real-time’ exchange of ideas and information.

What does this mean?

I made a slight cut at Google before…kind of joking, but kind of serious at the same time.  Google searches are great for historical and static pages on the net, but when it comes to current and news-breaking events, nothing comes close to the RTW.  I find myself gravitating towards Twitter Search for various information now.  There is so much power that lies in the RTW and its huge community of people that conventional search engines tend to seem “old school”.  Before pages are indexed in search engines, and even before a blogger can create a post, someone from the Twitter community has already wrote a 140-character gem that will be retweeted, discussed, and spread virally throughout the internet instantly.  So powerful.

What should I do?

Get on Twitter if you haven’t already.  Create an account and start connecting with people that interest you.  Guy Kawasaki has some great articles on how to get started on Twitter.  Read both, here and here.

Once you have built up a solid community of twitterites, I recommend utilizing the power of FriendFeed.  Check out the RTW jedi himself, Robert Scoble, on how to get started with Friendfeed.

Most importantly…

I want to hear from you guys who are part of the RTW.  I want to get your feedback and your opinions.  I would like to do a more comprehensive follow-up and would love to hear back from the community

• What are you thoughts about the future of the RTW?
• More useful: Friendfeed or Twitter?
• How should companies embrace the power of the RTW?
• How many third party Twitter applications do you use?
• How do you get your news?