Google certainly is leading the way in so many areas of the web at the moment. I've just watched the Google Wave preview and I'm really impressed with their ability to get their heads out from the mindset of email and to think about how to do and email-type communication better.

There isn't a lot I can say better than the preview does so I won't. I recommend you watch it, even just the first part. The video is long at 1 hour 20mins but I thought worthwhile.

Check out Google Wave if you haven't already - http://wave.google.com/