According to Google, “Google Wave is what email would be if it was invented today.”

SO, WHAT IS GOOGLE WAVE?
Instead of the email system where all users receive an individual copy of a mail all users share the same messages, or Waves as it is called – hosted on a central server.  Everyone can reply to or even edit the original Wave. Additionally one can add interactive elements as gadgets (ie. maps, polls  etc.).

These features – and the fact that everyone can see what the others are doing in real-time makes Google Wave a very powerful collaboration tool. Contacts can literally be dragged into the  conversation/Wave as it evolves.

Google has even implemented a Playback functionality, making it possible to see how the Wave has evolved from start to finish. This is very useful if a large number of users edit the same Wave.

Google Wave is still not completed and have several flaws. Google Wave is currently in a Preview stage, and an invitation is necessary to try it out.

I am convinced that it will become a very popular tool for planning projects, chatting and information sharing when it is made available to everyone.

Hopefully it (or a similar service) will take over for today’s outdated emailing system.

If you want to see more, I suggest you take a look at Mashable‘s Complete guide to Google Wave and Google’s own 10 minute Google Wave Overview.