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Words To The Wise
Narrowcasting and Push Technology: Two Terms You Should Know
Whether you’re a seasoned multitasking online communications marcom maven or just getting your feet wet in the fast-paced world of CRM, it pays to know what’s happening in the space surrounding your career. Narrowcasting and Push Technology are two concepts you can’t afford to ignore.
Narrowcasting, coined as the opposite of broadcasting, is the act of sending specifically requested and anticipated data to a specific list of recipients. A common example of narrowcasting is Cable television since the cable TV signals are sent only to homes that have subscribed to the cable service. In contrast, network TV uses a broadcast model in which the signals are transmitted everywhere and anyone with an antenna can receive them.
The terms multicast and narrowcast are often used interchangeably, although narrowcast usually refers to the business model whereas multicast refers to the actual technology used to transmit the data.
Push Technologies are another form of narrowcasting. Perhaps the best example of narrowcasting is e-mail lists where messages are sent only to individuals who subscribe to the list.
The World Wide Web is based on a pull technology where the client browser must request a Web page before it is sent. In the world of client/server applications, using Push Technology is to send data to a client without the client requesting it. Broadcast media, on the other hand, are push technologies because they send information out regardless of whether anyone is tuned in.
So the next time you’re baffled by tech speak in a meeting, try recommending a strategy of narrowcasting through push technology. No doubt heads will nod in agreement.
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