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Hands up all those who remember "push" technology...

Both Microsoft and Netscape were adamant that "push channels" would reshape the way we used the Net but now, many years later, the closest thing we have is RSS - and that's far from a real push technology.

Why did push fail?

I suspect the biggest reason is that the vast majority of Net users have had dynamic IP numbers, making it rather difficult to track down any individual user at any given time. Of course the growth in "always on" DSL connections has the potential to allow true push technology to re-emerge - but only if we're given static IPs which, in the case of Telecom, is rather unlikely.

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The closest thing to push at present is probably instant messaging - where your PC sits there quietly minding its own business until such time as someone pushes a message into your IM mailbox.

Another "great idea" was the customisable news website.

Almost all the online news sources decided that users might like to be able to customise the content they see when they logged on to their websites, and some even went so far as to implement such features.

These days however, the vast majority of news sites just dump you at their front page and rely on categorising of news stories into different sections to provide people with the choices they need.

Was it simply too hard to produce a truly customisable edition? Or is it that nobody actually bothered to go through the process of creating a profile and maintaining it?

Another idea I really liked was the prospect of having a "pocket edition", probably customised, of your morning newspaper automatically delivered to your PC and printed overnight on your own printer.

Instead of having to get up early to read the online paper before heading off to work, or trying to use your wireless-capable laptop on the bus or train, you could simply thrust this printed mini-edition into your briefcase as you rushed out the door then peruse it at your leisure on the way to work.

Maybe this concept was overtaken by those sites that churn out PDA-compatible editions of almost any website on the Net? (including this one)

Well here's another "great idea" that I'm sure has legs -- but which nobody yet seems to have tried in earnest...

Now that Net-based VOIP companies seem to be popping out of the woodwork at every turn, maybe someone ought to come up with a global talk-netradio website.

Chat rooms and discussion forums are very popular hang-outs for enormous numbers of people and regular talk radio still retains a strong following on the air. Surely therefore, a Net-based talk radio system using Skype or Teleo as the link between callers and the station itself would be a runaway success.

The potential audience is *huge* - and that means the potential for advertising revenues is also enormous. What's more, no broadcasting license is required - just big enough servers and adequate bandwidth - hell, you could even PodCast the more popular topics!

Has anyone spied such a site/service on the web during their travels?

Will Net-talkback radio replace blogging as "the next big thing"?

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