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When "push" comes to shove
Push technology is all the rage -- What does this mean for Java?
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Push this
Most push companies provide a proprietary client environment that users can download without charge. The companies generate revenue by providing many channels of information, gathering demographic information from their end users, and selling carefully targeted advertising. Those of you who use one or more push products know that this can be a very user-friendly arrangement.
Pointcast, for example, allows users to subscribe to channels that focus on news, sports, weather, finance, and industry sectors. The user completes a profile that describes the information desired, and Pointcast's servers automatically download the information from the 'Net and update it periodically. The information is presented in a multi-window environment with areas for documents, maps, ticker tapes, and a dynamic display area for advertising. Pointcast software also has the ability to automatically update itself as new functionality or channels become available. The user simply clicks a button and the new software downloads automatically.
This is a typical scenario for most push products, although supported content types, available channels, and systems administration facilities differentiate the products. Some products execute in browsers; some are native Windows applications. Some products present only text and images; some serve applets and other executables.
Danger, Will Robinson
Therein, lies the rub. As long as the runtime environments for these products are proprietary and execute on the client's native machine, they are subject to all the standard concerns surrounding downloading executables over the network. Push documents or images onto the machines in your company, and you are a hero. Push self-replicating software onto those machines, and you open yourself up to countless problems. Without an integral set of security mechanisms on the client, push technology could be to network computing what Typhoid Mary was to public health.
For push companies with a software distribution focus, Marimba for example, the solution to the problem lies in Java. Executables downloaded to the client execute within the boundaries of the Java virtual machine and are constrained by the integral security mechanisms of that environment. Where software can auto-update or self-replicate, it does so under Java's security constraints. In early 1997, almost no one claims that the Java VM is a completely secure environment, but it is significantly more trustworthy than a proprietary runtime environment from your friendly push vendor.
The evolution of push technology
The natural evolution of push products is to integrate their functionality with standard Web browsers. As browsers evolve to include document viewing, applet execution, electronic mail, and groupware facilities, it is natural to conclude that they also will include the ability to narrowcast information to individual users and multicast information to multiple users. Microsoft already offers a limited version of this scenario on its Microsoft Network site (see Resources). This site provides a range of content similar to the Pointcast Network, although MSN's ability to dynamically update information is much more limited. It also uses ActiveX components to do much of what can (and should) be done in Java.
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Resources
- Information and a free download of the Pointcast client are available at its Web site:
http://www.pointcast.com
A more in-depth look at the Pointcast product is available at:
http://pioneer.pointcast.com/products/winfact3.html - Marimba provides Castanet, an excellent Java-based push product designed for software distribution. A detailed look at Castanet
is available at:
http://www.marimba.com/datasheets/castanet-ds.html - BackWeb provides a series of products designed for use by commercial sites and corporate intranets. A technical overview is
available at:
http://www.backweb.com/wii/wii_tch.html - Intermind provides a set of lightweight push products that are profiled at:
http://www.intermind.com/prod_demo/how_does_it.html - Similarly, Wayfarer provides a set of products primarily focused on corporate developers. Their Incisa products are outlined
at:
http://www.wayfarer.com/whatis/incisa-wp.htm#architecture - Data Channel provides a set of products to construct a personal desktop. An overview of their architecture is available at:
http://www.datachannel.com/products/index.htm - Lanacom's Headliner products provide a personal desktop with context agents to help select information at specific times.
The products are outlined at:
http://www.headliner.com/faq.html - One of the godfathers of push technology is Individual, Inc. It has a subsidiary named Freeloader that provides a lightweight
client and a number of existing content channels. An excellent discussion of push can be found at:
http://www.freeloader.com/push2.htm - Microsoft Network site is located at:
http://www.msnbc.com/toolkit.asp
- Previous "Blundon's Corner" columns
- Deciphering the NC world -- Network Computers and Internet appliances hold great promise for the world at large and for Java in particular.
- How Microsoft is broadening Java's scope -- Presents a positive spin on Microsoft's "embrace and extend" directive.
- "Netscape TWO" -- The Open Network Environment (ONE) improved -- Describes how Netscape has enhanced its intranet strategy and formed a response to Microsoft's position in the corporate computing world.
- So you want to build an intranet? -- Presents six key issues to think about before implementing an internal Web site.
- Oracle redefines the balance of power -- Focuses on Oracle's Networking Computing Architecture, a serious player on the intranet.
- Netscape outlines its vision for the futureNONE -- Discusses the Open Network Environment (ONE) and how it has taken on Microsoft behind the firewall.
- Java and ActiveX -- Points out that Java may have won on the Internet but that the intranet rules.
- What can kill Java? -- Pinpoints the serious land mines that the new programming language must now dodge.
- The center of the universe is a database -- Talks about Java and its role in the corporate database.
- Plug-Ins? Opt Out! -- Discusses how plug-ins can't rival Java as an option for developing distributed software.
- Microsoft 2, SunScape 1 -- Explains how, despite its late arrival to the Web, Microsoft still leads Sun and Netscape in the battle for the Internet.
- How can Java rule the world? -- Suggests three key steps to Java's success.
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