Helping You Catch The Google Wave

Google Wave is a new web-based collaboration tool that has gotten a lot of press - and a lot of that is people wondering just what it is supposed to do.

The Complete Guide to Google Wave by Gina Trapani with Adam Pash, is a new comprehensive user manual to help you learn how to use Google Wave to get things done with your group.

I haven't started playing with wave yet because, though I applied, I did not receive an invite. That might be a good thing - saves me some of my free time, and allows others to work out the bugs.

If you are interested in Google Wave but have no account or background, I suggest you look at chapter one "Meet Google Wave" which explains Google Wave and the applications it might have to your work.

This book-in-progress, The Complete Guide to Google Wave, is a new free "book" written about Wave which is so new that no one seems to really "get it" and there is still a lot to discover about it. A print book (at least right now) just seems foolish and instantly outdated.

As they say, Wave is a "young, complex, and frankly incomplete web application and technology." As developers work with it, it will change. There really isn't one place to go right now to find all the Wave information in an organized way. Yes, there are lots of blog posts, but most of us are still linear enough that a book structure probably works better. Wave is an ambitious project and has the potential to change how we work, collaborate, and communicate on the web.

I also interested in Trapani's approach to this book. In her own words:

I’m calling it a book, but for now it’s just a web site–with eight “chapters” and two “appendices,” free for you to read, share, and if
we’re lucky, help us expand. The site will grow into traditional book formats, however: thanks to the team at 3ones, a PDF version of the book’s preview edition will be available for purchase this month. In January of 2010, a softcover print version of the book’s first edition will be available as well as an updated PDF. Adam and I have committed to four editions throughout 2010, so the book will change and evolve along with Wave. The latest and greatest version of the book will always be available for free at completewaveguide.com.
I turned down a request-for-proposal from my traditional book publisher to try this experiment in iterative self-publishing. I ran down the whole story of why on the book’s About page. This approach scratches several itches I’ve had for years: I’ve always wanted to publicly collaborate on a book using MediaWiki, try my hand at self-publishing, and license a book under Creative Commons. Now, to see how it will all turn out.

Right now, the content is only available on the web at completewaveguide.com (8 chapters and 2 appendices, with plans to expand).

You can help the book grow and be revised by contributing to the guide. The contents of this book are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. This means you are free to share and remix its content, as long as you attribute it to completewaveguide.com and share it under the same license. This also means that any of your contributions to this book will be distributed under this license.

A more permanent/convenient/traditional copy of the book will be available in a preview edition for purchase as a PDF later this month. The first edition print version will be available in January of 2010.

They plan to release four editions of the book throughout 2010 to keep up with the changing face of Wave, but the latest version of the book will always be available free at  completewaveguide.com.

The book's About page has more on their approach to publishing.

You can also get updates on book releases and various Wave tips by following @gwaveguide on Twitter.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Gina Trapani is a tech blogger, podcaster, book author and programmer based in San Diego, California by way of Brooklyn, New York. The founding editor of Lifehacker.com, a daily weblog on software and
personal productivity, Gina authored a book based on the web site which is in its second edition: Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better. A Sun-certified Java programmer, Gina builds Firefox extensions, web applications and other software.

Adam Pash is a freelance writer, programmer, and web developer based in Los Angeles, California. While his interests are varied, Adam spends the majority of his time working as Editor for Lifehacker. Adam's freelance work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Wired, Popular Science, and PC World. He has authored a book on the iPhone called How to Do Everything with Your iPhone .