BackWeb

The immense success enjoyed by PointCast has developers across the world jumping at the opportunity to cash in on what appears to be a very lucrative niche market. BackWeb Technologies' BackWeb client is the latest entrant to wage war against PointCast. Like PointCast, BackWeb is a channel-based "push" technology client that delivers news in a fashion similar to your basic cable TV -- each channel offers specialized content that is broadcast to its subscribers. You pick the channels that interest you and determine how much and how often you want the information delivered to you. While PointCast specializes in general category channels (sports, stocks, business news, etc.) and newspaper-specific channels (online news from your favorite hard copy newspapers like The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times), BackWeb channels are typically more specific and are often limited to one company or individual service per channel. The difference in focus of the two clients can be compared to that of normal television and cable television. This analogy also helps explain why BackWeb, despite giving up nearly a year's headstart to PointCast, already offers more channels than the current champ. As with cable TV, specialized content allows companies to focus on a specific segment of the population rather than attempting to provide content that meets the diverse needs of the population in general. With specialization there exists greater opportunity for companies to focus on a segment of the population that they can offer their services to without as great a threat of competition. This point is reinforced by the current list of content providers that have signed up with BackWeb. Channels are currently available from the likes of iWORLD, Infoseek, McAfee, Sportsline USA, VocalTec, ZDNet, and more than thirty other companies. So far BackWeb has done a great job of attracting providers, but simply having more channels than PointCast is not going to be enough to pry the eyes of users away from PointCast. BackWeb attempts to best PointCast by offering a service that is unique yet combines some of PointCast's best features. Like PointCast, BackWeb displays headlines of current events and allows you to click on those that interest you for additional information. The most common type of display in BackWeb is the InfoFlash, which appears as an animated ticker that scrolls across your screen when new information arrives. Clicking on an InfoFlash launches your favorite web browser with the complete article intact; unlike PointCast, there is no built-in viewer for browsing articles. While InfoFlashes are currently the most common form of content provided by BackWeb providers, the client also allows for software updates to be sent out via specific channels as well as multimedia news flashes in the form of audio messages, screen savers, and background wallpaper graphics. It is these areas that give BackWeb the most potential for success. Imagine subscribing to channels that offer you the ability to download the latest updates for your favorite software programs. The McAfee channel currently showcases this capability by making available the latest McAfee virus scanner updates when they become available. If BackWeb can get more companies to follow the trend set by McAfee, this will become another must-have 'net application. As it stands now, BackWeb is impressive but doesn't currently offer enough distinctive competencies to steal market share from the current leader. Still, keep an eye out for BackWeb -- it could very likely surprise you in the future. Pros: InfoFlashes, software updates, and multimedia news via specialized online news channels Cons: PointCast offers roughly the same information but with a better interface and overall design For the latest information on BackWeb, check out: www.stroud.com/95online.html#backweb