BILKENT UNIVERSITY     
CS533 Information Retrieval Systems     
Technical Presentation Web Site
Barýþ UZ
 
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Introduction
Push Technologies
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ASP
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Overview
How it works
Typical usage
Benefits and Problems with Push Technology
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Push technology offers solutions for the information retrieval and browsing off-line problems. That is, once you get the information from the server, you can access this information without being connected. Of course, you should be on-line if you want to get the most recent info. 

The main advantages of Push technology is convenience. Rather than having go hunt for the latest information, it simply arrives automatically on your computer. This saves the users' time since they don't waste a lot of time to search for a specific information. Once it is downloaded, you can browse the content when you are off-line. This is particularly valuable for users with dial-up connections and slow connections. 

The user also get the information that s/he requested and it is available to him/her free of charge. The content provider companies generate their revenue from advertisements and gathering demographic information from users and selling targeted advertising. 

However, there are some problems with Push Technology according to an article by Bud E. Smith, who took the parts of an article from Stephen Manes (New York Times computer columnist) entitled: "The give and take of push technology". 
 

    Bandwidth and user hard disk space are assumed to be unlimited but they ARE limited, unfortunately.  

    Push channels do not build community any more than a traditional magazine. 

    Internet connections are not all work-based, persistent connections; most are intermittent, home-based or road-warrior dial-up connections. 

    Interactivity is not important except in scientific, limited circumstances, when it is used, it must work reliably and easily. 

    There aren't intelligent agents. 

    Users rarely get just the right information just in time. 

    The computer desktop is not a great place to deliver information; it's something most users spends as little time looking at as possible between launching and running applications. 

    Advertisers will indeed tailor content to users - who will promptly throw it out. He asserts, "One man's push is another man's spam!" 

    New, innovative forms of push will be created - but mostly because they can be not because they meet real user needs. 

    New, exciting content will not be particularly new or exciting, such as watching cable TV channels for a preview of what to expect. 

    Push channels won't save time compared to traditional media in areas such as finding a movie listing. 

    Push is unlikely to eliminate pull; traditional web surfing is actually one of the few areas where the Internet brings something new and valuable compared to traditional media. 

    Manes concludes that neither computer nor the Internet are stable, reliable or usable enough to allow push to reach beyond its current niche of early adapters.

 
 
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