"Google said they'd give everyone ponies! Respond!!!"
Please point me to the roadmap document for WebP that shows which features Google intends to implement and the schedules (even rough guesses) for getting those features implemented. Without that, I don't see what there is to respond to.
This mailing list post (and the Google IO video linked within it) is probably the closest thing to a roadmap that exists, though it's vague on timelines:
I personally am relatively comfortable with Google's throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach. I understand that others aren't but hope that Mozilla engages constructively so that WebP improves in a measurable way even if you/they have no intention of adopting it.
The "we need it to sit in ISO committees for 10 years before we can even think about implementing it" approach reminds me too much of the bureaucratic process trolling that Microsoft are so good at. It's good trolling because it's also a natural response and vaguely professional sounding, while still probably being either non-productive or actively detrimental to the technical outcome.
Note that from my amateur readings (notably http://sites.google.com/site/dlimagecomp/ms-ssim-results) JPEG-XR seems to be suffering from the exact problems that WebP is alleged to have (i.e. being designed for PSNR to the point that it's actually worse than venerable JPEG in SSIM and subjective tests). JPEG-2000 seems to have the same issue to a lesser degree. If Mozilla can bring some automated metrics to bear on this (and any parallel JPEG improvements), and metrics seems to be one of your/their strengths, then I'd be very happy, since it seems the JPEG-XR and 2000 teams may have been misled by their own metrics. Having multiple eyes on the problem, particularly those looking to find fault from the outside, would be great regardless of whether the result is WebP being improved or scrapped.
Please point me to the roadmap document for WebP that shows which features Google intends to implement and the schedules (even rough guesses) for getting those features implemented. Without that, I don't see what there is to respond to.