Riding the Google Wave

After much anticipation Google has begun rolling our Google Wave to selected users. They are doing this much the same way that Gmail was introduced, you must be invited to the party. I was lucky enough to receive my invite a few days ago and have been able to waste a few hours playing around with it.

At first brush it may just seem like a glorified chat room. However, if you start to dig a little deeper it is quite clearly more than that. Wave takes everything that Google has done up to now and rolls it up into a single collaborative space. It is an entirely new way to communicate, a hybrid of multiple Google applications and communication functions. It all takes place in real time, a boon for anyone trying to work on a project with multiple people across the internets. It takes the Google Docs philosophy to a whole new level.

Wave seems to indicate the direction Google is heading in terms of usability and integration. So, try to snag an invite and see what it is all about.

The Death of the Brand Manager

This article was on the front page of AdAge this week. Echos everything that we have been discussing in both Brand Management and Marketing Management. Seems like the industry is finally heading in the right direction.

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=139593

535 vs. 535

Forgive me if I fail to understand one of the newest trends in automobile design. The CUV/Station Wagon abomination. See the BMW 535i Gran Turismo. While I realize that the American market has a stigma attached to station wagons, these new creations are as tasteless as they are utilitarian. The design is not cohesive, the first 1/2 of the car looks fine but it merges with what looks like a Prius and it terminates with an awkward sloping roof line and banal trunk. The classic SUV may be a thing of the past, but what void are we filling with these tall hatchbacks? BMW has always stood for innovative if not polarizing design, the latter in the past 10 years. But, this car is neither innovative nor polarizing. It is simply boring. Give me a sport wagon, please.