Have you tried Google Wave?

I've been on Wave for only a week or so, and am finding it loaded with potential.

I'd have to equate it to something like Snow Skiing;

Two skis are fairly easy to learn, but difficult to master,
Snowboards, not so easy to learn right off, but once you have it, you have it.

I think Wave has much untapped potential, but it is not something just anyone can pick up, play with and master, and I think that is dividing the community.

The biggest issue with the Wave launch, is also it's biggest asset. It was launched without Google telling us all kinds of things to do with it. So we could figure things out, and use it to whatever end we could.

The other thing about Google Wave that is similarly good/bad, is that it is a public Beta. There are bugs, there are few tutorials, it is not polished. I think too many folks getting on Wave don't understand that, but without them, it would be hard to make a user-friendly program.

I requested a Wave invite to solve a very specific problem, and it works perfectly for me, I have not seen much of how it is being used other than my own experience, though, except for the Public Waves.

One more thing, G-Mail is still in Public Beta. So, there's that.

I have been using Wave for a while now and find it to be a very odd beast. The main wave I have been on has about 20 or so people. It becomes very disjointed very quickly and it seemed best to set up a notepad / wiki type application to keep track of what was going on. I think it takes not only a bit of practice but also some discipline. You have to learn to read everything and not step on or over other people.

Plus, as was mentioned, there are still a fairly small number of people on it, so I often find that the people I want to interact with aren't there yet. Unlike email and / or phones which are ubiquitous.

it's an online whiteboard to me, one that works

I have used it for several small tasks/projects. Havent used it for anything big yet since of the limited audience and it is still slow/buggy. But week by week it gets faster and more stable. Given another 6 months or so it will be really usable.

I have been working with Google Wave since its initial release as a "developer preview" shortly after the Google I/O developer conference (late May). Google Wave is a broad platform and its potential is immense, and I believe that folks are still coming up to speed with regard to its use and capabilities. The platform has become faster, more stable, and refined in the last two months or so.

In terms of collaboration, which seems to be your primary use for it (at least for now), I think that Google Wave can be really valuable. That said, one of the caveats is that there is a learning curve, so you need to be "fluent" in Google Wave before you can take full advantage of it. I am not sure if this was your first time using the app, but if it was, I would suggest sticking with it and giving it another go.

I have used Google Wave for a variety of tasks and projects, and it's become increasingly more valuable to me. It's been great for real-time conversations with a diverse audience as well as for ongoing collaboration with a few colleagues.