Google Wave too complicated? I don't think so

There is quite a bit of discussion about Google Wave, and how it's potential for success is severely diminished by complexity. True, the concept behind the entire solution is more difficult to grasp than email, but I wouldn't count Google out yet.

I don't think it's fair to judge Wave's complexity in its current developer preview form -- there are still plenty of bugs, performance issues, and usability problems. Performing basic things like marking something as "spam" or replying to a wave can take a bit of digging if you're used to Gmail.

Google needs to work really hard on the Wave user experience, and clearly define its advantages over traditional email so that average users can grasp the concept and get excited about it. If Google isn't 100% confident they can do that, it makes more sense for Google to build out Gmail with new Wave-backed features.

What do you think?