Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Push may be overwriting stuff on the receiving end. This can happen
because the filenames are repeated, or because the latest encapsulates
the past and makes the older versions unnecessary or unreliable.
Push-pull terminology is used in marketing, communications, and other
similar domains. “Push your message and repeat it” underlies many an
advertising or marketing approach. The objective of some of these efforts
may be to generate pull — come to our Web site or walk into our store
— to get more information or buy something. The mechanics of push
and pull are intertwined in many situations.
One must draw attention to Marshall McLuhan's concepts (Chapter 2,
Systems) of hot and cold media, and its relation to, or inclusion of,
push-pull terminology. McLuhan's statement that “the media is the mes-
sage” is often repeated but is less well understood. He categorized media
as hot or cold. Hot media deliver a lot of information, thus allowing the
user to remain passive. Examples are photographs, the radio, and topics.
Cold media offer less information, thus forcing the user to engage with
the media using his or her imagination, either to fill in the blanks or
understand what is happening. Examples are the telephone and drawings.
Hot corresponds to push, and cold to pull, for the purposes of our analysis.
The application one develops may encourage or demand engagement, or
it may cater to a passive user — the monthly report that lands on my
desk and requires me to do nothing more than look at it.
Which of these are examples of push, pull, both, or
neither?
1. Master code table updates
2. Ordering in a restaurant
3. Stock price quotes on Web sites
4. Phone calls and text messages
5. Change in government regulations
6. Electronic billpay
7. Renewal of medical prescriptions by the pharmacy
8. Doctor's referral to another doctor
9. Patient's admission to a hospital
10. Flight status information at an airport display
