Good find Jim. I'll paste it here and then it's off to bed!
Wireless Push Taking Different Forms
(09/18/97; 4:00 p.m. EDT)
By Malcolm Maclachlan, TechWeb
SAN FRANCISCO -- The best broadcasting model
for the Web may avoid the Internet entirely, according
to some industry professionals at the Jupiter Online
Developer's Conference here Wednesday.
"You can't push content to the home because people
aren't willing to tie up the line," said Sandy Goldman,
WaveTop's vice president of the consumer group.
Forty percent of home users still connect over 14.4
modems, a speed that makes push difficult to
download, Goldman said. In the meantime, he said, the
number of PCs with broadcast receivers will skyrocket,
from 1 million today to 20 million by the end of the
decade.
WaveTop's cordless broadcast service lets users
download up to 140 megabytes of information per day
through a receiver. The company aggregates content
and sells advertising on the free service.
Users subscribe to content, letting parents completely
control the Web experience of their children, Goldman
said. The large data pipe allows a wider range of
content, he added.
DirectTV is also entering the fray, pushing content from
satellites through the same dishes it uses to send 175
channels of video to subscribers. With 18 million
satellite dishes already in the market, the audience is
potentially huge, according to Ed Huguez, vice
president of new media.
The company can push 30 megabits per second through
the 18-inch dishes, Huguez said. With new lines of
powerful multimedia PCs coming soon, there is much
potential to merge video, animation, and music into
exciting new forms of computer content, he said.
AirMedia president John Payne touted another promise
of wireless push -- it won't crash.
"It's the persistence, stupid," he said.
Payne's company has established a broadcast network
that can now reach 90 percent of the U.S. population.
For $5.95 a month, AirMedia gives users 45 channels
of customizable broadcasts of news, sports, and
entertainment content.
Two other services are a "narrowcast" of specialized
corporate channels and "onecast" services such as
receiving E-mail. The interface also allows embedded
connections back to the Web.
AirMedia has partnerships with Internet antennae
producers NEC and Hewlett-Packard. It is also
releasing a 4.5-ounce portable Internet receiver for
mobile users.
There is probably room for many different push
products -- wired or wireless -- depending on
need and location, Payne said.
"The pipe you use is going to depend on the problem
you are trying to solve," he said. |
