Definition[]
Push technology is
| “ | [t]echnology that allows users to sign up for automatic downloads of online content, such as virus signature file updates, patches, news, and Web site updates, to their email boxes or other designated directories on their computers.[1] | ” |
Overview[]
"[T]elevision or radio are 'pushed' at the user who exerts only a minimal effort to seek out the content, while the Internet requires the user to 'pull' the content onto his computer."[2]
Using push technology a Web server uses a user's profile to conduct periodic searches against a given database and delivers or pushes the search results automatically to the user's computer so the user can review the search results whenever desired. Eventually, push technology evolved into RSS feeds.
Public safety[]
"There are opportunities to leverage push technologies in emergencies. Providing up-to-date information to large segments of the public is important because it permits people to take appropriate actions, helps prevent panic, speeds remediation efforts, and can prevent follow-on crises. But widespread broadcasts (whether by television, radio, or the Internet) are not necessarily the best approach — they provide only limited, situation-specific information and cannot supply details tailored to the needs of individuals, such as what evacuation route to use. By contrast, push technologies could deliver more focused (and presumably more accurate) warnings and more detailed advice on what actions to take and could decrease the frequency with which people receive false alarms (warnings that do not apply to them).[3]
References[]
- ↑ Practices for Securing Critical Information Assets, Glossary, at 57.
- ↑ Approaches to Content on the Internet, at 16.
- ↑ Information Technology Research, Innovation, and E-Government, at 75.