Google Wave, Otto the Automator: A lonely robot and a social phenomenon
Google Wave, in a number of ways, reminds me of Mac OS X's Automator functionality. I can tell there is mammoth power underneath the hood, but there's a real learning curve for anyone trying to grok either one without seeking outside resources. With Snow Leopard, and its new services functionality (effectively shifting automator actions to the point of need), there's a much stronger impetus for anyone to learn automator. Personally I have been enjoying it. The difference between the Wave and Automator is that Wave is inherently social, so users who stick around will be exposed to more expert users' tricks and will learn from them. So rather than Snow Leopard's services functionality making automator screamingly useful being the impetus for many of us learning its ins and outs, with Wave, it may be the groundswell of social pressure and close-up exposure to more expert users that drives learning.
