It looked pretty useful in 2009. Failing to push it was baffling then too.
replyIt was open sourced as Apache Wave when Google shut it down.
replyYears later Apache moved it to read only because of low community activity.
The archived git repo on GitHub remains available to clone and revive as a fork.
This doesn't explain the lack of marketing. Apache isn't exactly known for pushing tech. Google never tried to improve on gmail.
replySorry if it wasn’t clear, I was adding this info for context and for anyone who hopefully feels inspired to pick up Wave and make something from it given that it was all open sourced and all. And I figured that in the chain after your comment about it having been useful looking all along was a natural place to add this additional info and link.
replyThis was the first big secret “you’re not allowed to know what this is or talk to anyone about it” project inside Google. They wanted to be left alone and especially to not have to integrate with the mail team. And everyone heard rumors of gigantic bonuses if they hit whatever milestones, which wasn’t a thing for other projects. All this made them isolated within the company, and when the project was an obvious flop, you didn’t see anyone rushing over to help them.
replyI used it to plan a group beach trip back when it came out. We had a single page shared with everyone going on the trip. The page had live shopping lists, maps, weather forecasts, and other snippets of useful information. Now in 2026 I still can't think of any single technology that provides the same utility. Although to be fair, this might be a case of rosy retrospection.
replyNotion pages are pretty good for shared trip planning docs. Although maybe without so many live updating widgets.
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replynotion isn't too far off
replywave failed for weird google organizational reasons far more than anything inherent to the product or tech
It was awesome when released. I used it a lot, the multiplayer experience was awesome, and the mix of document-forum-wiki is still something I miss
replyIt was too far ahead of its time.
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