I've been using Google Wave seriously for a few weeks and I really like it.  But, right now anyway, its a very scary place to do anything important.

Wave is real-time.  Instant messaging (IM) seems downright sluggish by comparison while e-mail seems positively glacial.  Wave is a communication and collaboration power tool.

But wave is in its infancy.  Doing real, mission critical work in wave is like driving a fast car or carrying a loaded pistol before safety belts or trigger locks were invented.

One of the ways you shoot yourself in the foot with wave is you can invite the wrong participant into a wave.  Very easily.

Suppose you are collaborating with a peer via wave on an negotiation strategy for a potential technology acquisition.  You're weighing the pros and cons of various negotiation tactics and how the other party might react to each.  Once you're settling in on a strategy you think will work, you decide to invite your CFO into the wave to get her take on the overall plan.

But...

By unhappy coincidence, the other party's lead negotiator's name is alphabetically close to your CFO's and you accidentally double click his name in wave's Add participants dialog box.  Bang!  Gaping hole right through the middle of your foot.  Your wave appears in his wave inbox.  No confirmation prompt; no undo; no recovery.

I'm sure this is something that Google will fix.  And there will be other wave clients with even better UIs.  But for now, there are no safety belts or trigger locks.

Bottom line...

I love Google Wave.  I think it is an important nascent communication paradigm and underlying protocol.  But everything about it is so new that you should expect hiccups.  If you like being on the bleeding edge, I recommend that you give it a try, keep an open mind, and be very careful (even slightly paranoid) every time you see the Add participants dialog box.