Google Docs begins integrating Etherpad's collaboration kung fu

Google's acquisition of Etherpad came at a time when Wave was still being talked about by the cool kids. Its collaboration chops seemed well-suited to Wave's real-time environment. As you well know, Wave ended up being a bit of a wash-out -- but it turns out Etherpad was slated for integration elsewhere.

That "elsewhere?" Google Docs, of course! As of today, Docs will show you which blocks of text other contributors are currently modifying when you've got a document open. It's an incredibly useful change if you have multiple authors working on Docs files -- no more stumbling over each other or accidentally fighting over the same block of text at the same time.

This is probably just the beginning, of course. With Etherpad in tow, Google Docs will probably see many more collaboration-oriented additions in the near future.

[via Google Docs blog]

Tags: collaboration, docs, documents, editing, etherpad, google, highlighting, text