When the push media future shone bright.

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences  |  Not yet a subscriber? By Eve Sneider | 03.25.23 Let a thousand media types bloom "Consider the near future: In the middle of wandering through a Web site on Eskimos, you suddenly switch to push and watch Nanook of the North. Or while doing a spreadsheet for next year's budget, you get interrupted with an on-the-spot packaged report of an oil spill in Chesapeake Bay," Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf wrote in WIRED in 1997. They predicted that the internet was about to move away from "pull media"—content you have to seek out or steer—toward "push media," which you can encounter or consume much more passively. "Participation is automatic. The condition of the media network will always be a form of media—media is analogous to weather," they proclaimed. "Push media are always on." Kelly and Wolf's article, You Can Kiss Your Web Browser Goodbye, is perhaps my favorite kind of archival WIRED story. Its references are delightfully dated, its techno optimism practically oozes off the screen, and its prognostications are written like they're outlandish ideas—but they have largely come true. Kelly and Wolf describe a world in which gentle prods from always-on devices keep you apprised of basketball game scores and news flashes and the traffic you're about to hit. Does that sound familiar or what? In their 1997 story, Kelly and Wolf seem eager for the takeover of push media. "The communications revolution we initiated a decade ago continues to grow new habitats for media settlement," they write giddily. "All we can say is, Let a thousand media types bloom. Soon." In 2023, I'm guessing we're all a little more cynical about push media, and whatever comes after it. But here's my question for all of you: When was the last time you felt this kind of enthusiasm for a tech development, and what was it? Do you still feel that way now? Let me know in the comments below the story. See you next week! Eve Eve Sneider, Deputy Ideas Editor Read The Full Story Originally published in March 1997. SUBSCRIBE TO READ THIS STORY  You Can Kiss Your Web Browser Goodbye Welcome to the radical future of push media, where information cascades to you—and doesn't need your clicks. You Might Also Like The Internet Is Not as New as You Think Within the long history of telecommunication in nature, the web can be seen not as a mere tool, but as a living system. Smartphones Are a New Tax on the Poor The expectation of connectivity now extends to low-wage workers—and the consequences go far beyond gig economy jobs. What Is the Metaverse, Exactly? Everything you never wanted to know about the future of talking about the future. SUBSCRIBE TO READ THIS STORY  I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget In 2019, I made a painful decision. But to the algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps, I'm forever getting married. Growing Old Online Millennials, the first generation to be online as kids, are starting to feel like we've aged out. Is there a way to age gracefully on the internet? The haze of a mystery Last week's Classics looked at Brooke Jarvis' feature about the early days of Covid vaccine trials in 2020. In response, Bluebird_of wrote, "Seeing the headline to this article I thought: 'Yes, I remember when Covid was an unknown, not able to be diagnosed—way before March of 2020—and when there were no tests to identify it. I often think of how three years have passed since I lost December 2019 in the haze of a mystery illness.'"   Tell me about your favorite WIRED stories and magazine-related memories, and each week I'll feature one of you here. Write to me at eve_sneider@wired.com, and include "CLASSICS" in the subject line. Or, simply join the conversation by posting a comment below the article. GET WIRED Get 1 year of WIRED for less than $1 per month. That includes Steven Levy's exclusive newsletter and a free tote! Subscribe now. Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.