ISP Information:
This technology was first popularized by Pointcast, a company offering a client that would allow data to be "pushed" into it from an external server. The client would then display parts of that data based on what the user was interested in looking at, such as news, weather reports, stock info, and so on. Push technology has lost popularity due to bandwidth requirements and the general undesirability of having data pushed
ISP Glossary:
Push Technology - The latest developments in TV-show-trading technology mean you don'tneed TiVo to watch what you want, when you want.By Farhad ManjooAug. 11, 2004 | When the Federal Communications Commission gave itsblessing on Aug. 4 to a new TiVo service that Hollywood has opposed,the decision was widely hailed as a triumph for techies. The news wasboth unexpected and unlikely -- these days, government officialsrarely move against the wishes of giant media companies.TiVo's upcoming service, called TivoToGo, will allow users to sendrecorded TV shows across the Internet to PCs or to other TiVomachines, a functionality that TiVo says customers have longdemanded. Although TiVo has imposed a host of restrictions on thesystem, media firms told the FCC that TivoToGo would cause immenseharm to their bottom line. The FCC didn't buy it, and geeks wereecstatic: "Three words ... There is a GOD!" wrote one Slashdot readerin a typical note of glee.The closer one looks, however, the less divine the FCC's approval ofTiVo begins to appear. For one thing, the new TiVo service seemspretty hard to fall in love with. It's strapped down by a surfeit ofcopy-protection mechanisms that many people will probably find tediousif not odious. For instance, the service will allow users to transfershows only to a small number of machines registered on a singlecustomer account; technically, says James Burger, an attorney forTiVo, the system is meant to let users move shows from one of theirTiVo systems only to another (say from a summer home to a winterhome), and not even to friends or family.TiVo was required to lock down its system and to seek thegovernment's approval in order to comply with the "broadcast flag"rule, which the FCC adopted last year. The rule is designed toprevent the widespread trading of television shows as we enter theage of high-definition digital television. Hollywood's nightmarescenario is that high-def TV will become "Napsterized," with showsavailable online to anyone, anytime, for free -- which may sound, tosome TV fans, less like a nightmare than a heavenly dream.http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/08/11/must_download_tv/
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