April 21, 1997
Netcaster: Much Ado about Nothing?
By Bob O'Donnell
All the Internet world watched this week as Netscape formally announced Netcaster, its
entry into the information "push" market. (See "Netscape's Netcaster aims to woo
users with compelling content delivery" for more). This latest component in its
Communicator family of products promises to bring any number of information channels
directly to users' desktops, keeping people informed without their having to go out and
track down the information themselves. As a result, people will be able to stay on top of
important developments in their industry and make better business decisions.
At least, that's the idea. But the more I think about this topic and the more I talk
with others about it, the more convinced I am that a small percentage of people are
actually interested in receiving that much information on a regular basis. Most people
make a quick daily check through major news sources and check their industry-specific
sources once a week, or sometimes even less. That's all the information most people want
and/or need.
Why then all the coverage on the topic? My theory is that many of the people who are
information junkies happen to be computer journalists that are personally enamored with
the idea (myself included).
I think the reality in most corporate IS environments is that there will be a large
initial spike in usage as people try out the possibilities and then an equally large
down-turn as individuals become overwhelmed by the information they receive. The big
surges in initial usage will lead to network trouble at some sites that may even cause IS
managers to develop and enforce very strict usage policies. I may be wrong here, but I
don't think so.
Frankly, what was more interesting about the Netcaster announcement was what wasn't
included. Netscape originally promised to offer a complete desktop replacement that would
allow users to work with files on the Internet as seemlessly and easily as files on their
own hard disks. In fact, working with all files was supposed to be handled through a
similar, browser-type interface. Unfortunately, these efforts have been delayed, and will
not be included in the first release of Communicator.
This is a major strategic blow because the integrated desktop/Internet metaphor is a
much more important and more revolutionary development than just adding pushed content to
the desktop. Completely integrating the Web and a desktop users' files and other resources
is going to profoundly change how we view and use our computers and the 'net itself.
Having web content delivered to your desktop is certainly an important part of that
overall change, but it is only a part (and frankly, only really important to a small
percentage of users).
Some news reports I've read suggested that Netscape had gained a critical lead over
Microsoft by offering their push technology before Microsoft, but I think those reports
missed the big picture. Although Microsoft may not have Active Desktop content available
for several months, it has a true desktop shell replacement now with the platform review
of Internet Explorer 4.0. I think that will prove to be much more important over the long
haul. It seems much easier to add push content to an entirely new desktop metaphor than it
does to bring a new desktop metaphor to a series of information channels.
Microsoft's efforts are somewhat limited by the fact that it only plans to offer
desktop shell replacements for Windows 95/9x and NT users, but given the company's
dominance on corporate desktops, this may not prove to be much of a limitation. Still, if
Netscape can offer a new desktop metaphor on all the platforms it supports, as it
originally promised, this could be a strategic advantage.
In the mean time, however, I think IS managers need to think long and hard about what
the truly critical issues are when it comes to integrating the Internet with their desktop
environments. Having information delivered to users desktops is certainly a nice
capability, but I don't think it's enough.
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Copyright 1997, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
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