So lately there’s been a lot of hype about Google’s upcoming product, Wave. I won’t deny that the features in the demo seem very productive/handy/slick, but its the name I can’t get over. Surely I can’t be the only person that remembers watching the ’80s movie The Wave. Thinking back, I remember watching it as one of those After School Specials that used to make frequent appearances on TV, with their persistent efforts to instill moral goodness in young kids. After a minimal amount of searching on YouTube I was able to find evidence of it (see below).
What I hadn’t realized was that the story had been loosely based on the story of an actual high school class during 1967 – first retold in Todd Strasser’s novel The Wave, and then redone as a feature-length film, Die Welle, in 2008. Maybe I just happened to watch this movie at a very impressionable point in my childhood, but each time I hear someone talk about how great Google Wave is going to be I can’t help but think back to this story and roll my eyes. It not that I think that Google has any aspirations for starting a cult (though it is amusing to think about), but the name certainly wouldn’t have made my short list for a new high-profile product, that’s for sure.
For those of you too young to remember this movie parts 1 & 2, and the trailer for the remake are available to view on YouTube. Here’s Part 1 to get you started…