The first page gives the impression that there is nothing there, but if you follow the links there is quite a bit, including an opportunity to play in the sandbox. It looks like it's the next generation beyond iGoogle and OpenSocial. The emphasis seems to be on social networking and collaboration, but I didnt dig deep enough to see whether it is a true collaboration tool or just a platform for managing tweets and multiplayer games. Since there are API's and bits and pieces can be embedded in a website or application, there are probably entrepreneurial opportunities.

Probably move Orkut over also...

Looks great for more social people. But, like Knuth, I prefer to stay on the bottom of things, not on top of them.

I'm very glad they're moving beyond Gmail and doing some real innovation, but honestly I think one of the best features about email is that it isn't just like IM.

That's why we use IM for some things, and email for others... not just because people aren't on IM when we want to write them.

The smart embedding is interesting though.

I too like the differences between email and instant messaging. I don't want convergence. I want people to choose an appropriate channel for communicating with me. I want phone calls to interrupt me (unless I'm ignoring them), texts to interrupt me in a lightweight, ignorable way, IMs to interrupt me in a less-ignorable way when I'm logged in, and email to be ignorable until I check my email. Colleagues know I check my work email pretty consistently when I'm working and not at all otherwise. My friends have a rough idea when I check my personal email, but they know I'm inconsistent.

I like that each mode of communication has a different flavor. You can't unify chat and email because the etiquette and expectations are different. An email means something different from an IM that contains the same content.

Exactly what I was thinking but more eloquent :)

I think most people will agree with us on this, too, even if they don't articulate it - they may not be able to because they never considered this kind of hybridization. I think people will say "it feels wrong" or just "lol wave sux." Or it will just generally

There is a real place for large, threaded, time-delayed packets of info. Email is great for this in many ways. I want to see innovation that expands on email's strengths.