We are still a few months away from the unbridled combination of Google Wave and Google's Open Social, but it can really make one's head spin with the possibilities. This could dramatically upgrade the entire social experience for Internet users since Google is creating a platform in social platform with Wave and so many developers are already working with Open Social. The tight integration of a robust platform like Wave and applications that access an existing network's friends and update feeds through Open Social gives Google a big hammer to swing. Google has a good representation of websites working with Open Social and their guidelines.

Our devotion to television as an entertainment vehicle is already being challenged and may become secondary to our relationships, conversations, collaboration, information-gathering and entertainment over the Internet. With YouTube already in their control, Google could end up being the most integrated solution available and possibly the most robust. That's a formidable combination for any competitors who were hoping to sell advertising or access to their services. With Google's search engine getting 70% of all searches, let's put a big check next to information-gathering too.

We are headed toward an age of social commerce and Google looks like they plan to sit in the middle of that. But that won't be all you can do with Wave and Open Social. Organizations can also look at the platform as an entry point to socialization and collaboration. It seems that we have just reached the end of the beginning of what web-based applications will do for society, business and the government. Google seems to be determined to have a lot of say about what that future looks like.