Google’s (GOOG) intention of connecting the entire online experience has now gone a step further. Appjet, a San Francisco-based startup company focused on online collaboration has announced that it would be taken over by the search giant. Appjet has a seed capital of $700,000.
 
Appjet’s sole product is the Etherpad, which enables editing of online documents in real time. This means that changes made to the document may be viewed immediately, facilitating quick response and/or decision-making.
 
The immediate viewing of changes is possible only if the system updates and displays them as soon as possible. While Google Docs currently broadcasts the updated document every 15 seconds, the Etherpad has the capacity to broadcast every half-second. Therefore, acquiring this technology would enable Google to display changes in real time.
 
We are sure that Google could have developed the program itself, but the acquisition has a number of advantages. First, funding is not an issue and developing the technology in-house would probably have cost just as much.  Second, the acquisition kills off the immediate competition and makes it smooth-sailing for Google. Third, key officials at Appjet, including CEO Aaron Iba and CTO J.D. Zamfirescu were former Google employees, so the acquisition brings some talent back home.
 
Appjet said that existing Etherpad users (both free and professional) would be able to use existing pads until March 31, 2010. However, new pads would not be created. Private network edition customers would be supported until the end of the existing contracts. Users with registered email addresses would be invited to the Google Wave preview by the end of the month. Appjet stopped charging for the services on December 4, 2009.
 
The company’s technology will be used for Google’s Wave platform, which is being built to merge email, chat, social networking and wiki style group access with web pages or documents.  The intention is seamless communication, using richly formatted text, photographs, video, maps, etc.
 
Google’s Wave will deliver several promises, facilitating better event organization, online project work, photo sharing, generating meeting notes and brainstorming, to name a few. It will also have playback, so users can determine the sequence of events, including which participant contributed what and when.
 
The progress on the Wave should be food for thought for competitors Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), since it has the potential to hurt both.
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