Ozzie may be right, but only if one tries to implement Wave on top of the web. Sure the interface may be on the web (for some Wave clients), but the underlying protocol, from my understanding, works along side http. Similar to how smtp works along side http even if the user interface is on the web.

Google's demo was the possibility, and, yes, it was a shiny system, but I don't get the impression that Google is trying to sell that system. They are pushing the underlying architecture and protocols. Their demo was made up of several "independent and interoperable implementations of services from toolkits of foundational technologies." And the "foundational technologies" is the Wave protocol.