August 12, 1996
Push Me, Pull You
By Bob O'Donnell
Getting to content on the Internet usually involves one of two processes. Probably the
most the common is to head to a Webwide search site, search for the topic you're
interested in, refine your initial searches to get what you really want, and then move on
to the sites the search finds for you. The other process is simply typing in the location
of the site you want to visit and going there.
As the World Wide Web gets bigger and the amount of available information grows,
Webwide searches are getting harder to perform. The information in Web spider-based
indices, such as Digital Equipment Corp.'s impressive Alta
Vista site, aren't updated as often as they used to be, and they typically provide an
overwhelming wealth of choices. It's not at all uncommon to get hundreds (if not
thousands) of hits on fairly specific queries, which makes it very difficult to find what
you're really looking for. In addition, it's difficult to tell which of those hits are
most relevant to your needs.
As for direct visits, individual content sites, such as InfoWorld Electric, are working
to establish themselves as a regular stop for the segment of Web surfers that match their
respective editorial profile. It's getting increasingly hard to stand out from the masses,
but we think we're doing a reasonably successful job.
The issue has become a question of delivery. How do you get information to your
readers? Most sites are built on the notion of pulling you in: If you build it (that is,
good content), they (the readers) will come. But a few companies have turned that equation
around and are the most well-known examples of products that will push content off the
Internet for you. In PointCast Inc.'s case, it's PointCast service requires you to first
download and install its dedicated viewing application. Once you've done so, PointCast can
provide its news sources (which are limited to content that the company has licensed) to
you, whenever you want it -- be it once per day, several times per day, or on demand.
FreeLoader Inc.'s FreeLoader, on the other hand, lets you designate Web sites as your
primary information sources, and then it can download content from those sites at whatever
intervals you choose for offline viewing.
The idea behind these products is intriguing and I've used both, at various times, for
several months now. But as appealing as they can be, I've found that they're both fairly
intrusive into my regular computing experience -- FreeLoader more than PointCast.
FreeLoader tacks a menu onto the bottom of your browser window, which can get in the way
of stand-alone surfing sessions. PointCast takes a fairly large chunk of computing
resources. In addition, both of these products are potential sore spots for IS managers,
because they could easily choke network bandwidth. In fact, some companies apparently do
not permit their use for fear of bringing network traffic speed to a halt. To be fair,
PointCast is aware of these concerns, and it is working on solutions to reduce bandwidth
problems at companies that use its product.
I'm curious to know what you think of these technologies and how they affect your
information gathering pursuits on the Web.
Forum Research
On an unrelated note, I'm happy to report that we now have a complete set of archives
for all the Forums that have run on InfoWorld Electric. They are broken down into
different category sections and labeled with the Forum name and the dates it remained
active. At the moment, the Respond button at the bottom of each Forum page in the archive
is still active, but these are not active forums. Although you are welcome to post to
them, you should not expect a response. Our Forums Editor Kristin Kueter created these
archives, and we think they will help you use the forums as research tools. Enjoy browsing
through them; you're sure to find a wealth of information.
©
Copyright 1996, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is prohibited.
