But I don't think Pointcast, Freeloader, the whole batch, are in any way a sign of what the very near future is going to look like. If a channel or a mailing list or a Web site or an agent, etc., starts shoving information we don't want at us, we'll turn it off, unsubscribe, not go there anymore or fire the bastard, etc. To take the most primitive form of push as an example, one I'm currently and sadly addicted to, the mailing list, we already have filters for a particular type of message we don't want. At the other extreme end of the scale, television, we zap or mute. Seems that for every new method of push, some enterprising soul comes up with a way to put the power back into the consumer's hands.
Selectivity is a service far more valuable than just about any product currently being pushed.
And so, it will win out. David makes his home in Berlin, is responsible for Rewired , and co-hosts the Media Shock forum on Electric Minds .