MAY 9, 1997. Copyright, 1997, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Internet Broadcasting Goes Mainstream
By Danny Sullivan

A publishing revolution may be about to take place on the Internet Ð or maybe not. New browsers from Netscape and Microsoft will be able to receive ÔpushÕ content.

Currently, most people ÔpullÕ content from web sites. They make a request by clicking on a hyperlink or entering a web address. In return, web pages are pulled from a web server and loaded into their browsers. 
One downside to this method is that time is wasted while Internet users read a web page and decide what to request next. ItÕs as if they watched a scene of a television show, then had to ask for the next scene to be played.

In contrast, push technology allows web publishers to send content all at once. Web pages are grouped into a Ôchannel,Õ and anyone tuning into this web channel gets all the pages sent to them at once. This makes better use of time, though people might receive pages they donÕt really want.

Push isnÕt new. PointCast has been delivering pushed content since February 1996. But only those with PointCastÕs software could receive the content. The same is true for newer push players, such as Marimba.
But now, both Microsoft and Netscape are building push reception into new versions of their browsers due out later this year. Millions use these browsers, so push will be exposed to a much wider audience and possibly catch on.

Both companies promise that any web site will be able to ÔwebcastÕ or ÔnetcastÕ their content. However, they are backing different ways of defining channels. The lack of a standard could keep web publishers from adopting push until a clear choice is established.

/ENDS