push technology on the web

Here are teh most reasoned comments on this subject that I have read. This is reprinted, of course, with the permission of the author. Greg Costikyan (costik) Mon 24 Feb '97 (07:02 AM) To my mind, the real value of push technology is not what people have been claiming. This is not a way to make the Web into TV. It is a way to make the network into the computer. The problem with the Web is that it is entirely client-driven; the user requests info, and the server basically can't update until the user makes another request. Contrast this to your computer; you do something, the computer responds--but also, the computer can alert you when something happens, or update something in background, etc., etc. It's far more active, indeed, interactive. There are scads of things you just can't do on the Web because it is "pull only." Can't do anything other than pretty damn trivial games, for one thing. (Well, you can, but not easily.) Give us an easily-used, widely available push technology of some kind, and the Net will be the single most popular gaming platform in a matter of years. Not just games, to be sure; instead of developing large, propriety financial transaction software for use by its brokers and traders, Merrill Lynch will do it on an Intranet, far cheaper and more simply than they do at present. But for this to work: �� * It needs to be widely distributed, ideally built into the most common browsers ala Java. �� * It need to be reasonably secure; Castanet is not, for instance. �� * It needs to be easy to develop for (which Castanet is not). �� * It needs to support distribution of software in any random language, not just Java (which Marimba promises for Castanet, and Backweb supposedly does). �� * It needs to be robust.

Great quote, Terry. Some real common sense talk about push. Wow, I wish Greg would show up here sometime. He has some terrific ideas.

I have had experience publishing with both Intermind and BackWeb. The technology in general is still in its infancy. But also our ability and artfulness in using it is likewise just taking its first baby steps. Thinking about how people want information and what they want opens up a lengthy laundry list of questions and an even longer starting point of answers. The diverse situation and needs of the clients we have been serving has proven that to me. I'm very interested in having more conversations on push technologies. Lets round up some people and get going.

OK we'll round 'em up. Will you help identify some of them? What are you doing with push?

We are delivering customize info paks of high tech press releases to editors based on their preferences. We have some 78 categories to choose from. We send out releases two times per day using BackWeb . I have, frankly, had a hard time finding other folks who are actually using push systems who want to talk about it. I keep asking BackWeb if they will have a users group, but so far nothing. It is a time to talk and compare.

We figured out how to do push technolgoy on the Spring today. It's called offer nancy chocolates. Incredible new technology.

Now Terry, technically that is PULL... you PULLED me here with the promise of chocolate!

OK ... call it pull/push technology then.

Check out the latest pus/pull (no chocolate) articles in the recent Communications Week.

What are some urls on the web we should check out regarding push, Nancy?

Oh, now I gotta use my memory cells. http://www.strom.com - David Strom keeps a table of push/pull technologies. Have to wade through a few levels to get to it. I don't have that set of bookmarks handy on this machine but will check soon. There have been series on Push in: Upside (http://www.upside.com) C/Net (http://www.news.com) and oh, the David whose name should be on the tip of my tounge who writes Web Informant (paid publication but he has had a series on push that is worth it if you are seriously thinking of implementing. I take his comments with a grain of salt, but the bottom line is pretty solid.) David Coursey.... remembered it! http://www.coursey.com I've printed out a few. I'll dig through my box of garbaaaage and see what I can find. There really has not been a ton that reflect the realities of implementation. I tried to get a conversation started on Mainspring (http://www.mainspring.com - a subscription service I was beta testing) but there weren't enough folks on board to get it hot. There was also a discussion on http://www.minds.com in the tech section moderated by Chickjesus but I was not impressed -- it was under Rantz and that's about what it was. Little substance that I could detect. Like I said, this topic gets very little cogent coverage. Lately the articles have focused on "who will survive" now that Microsoft IE and Netscape are incorporating push. And the whole hoodehaw on CDF issue (Channel Definition...F? Format? Can't remember the alphabet soup at this minute.) More smoke and mirrors at this point, I believe.

Who are you placing bets with for push, Nancy?