Updated Web Pages Via E-mail

July 4th, 2007

A new Web information service uses your familiar e-mail and browser software to deliver updated Web pages directly to your inbox.

Digital Bindery can deliver any Web page you want. Unlike push, or broadcast, technology that puts a selection of proprietary content on your desktop (think PointCast), Digital Bindery can deliver any Web page you want. The service was announced Monday by U.S. Interactive.

But unlike pull technology, or offline browsers, Digital Bindery doesn’t require special software. Instead, Bindery is like an Internet waiter: It takes your order and brings it right to your table.

Here’s how it works. You register at Digital Bindery’s Web site (only demographic information is required; name and address are optional). Then you surf your favorite sites through a frame in Digital Bindery’s window, and mark them for later delivery.

Every morning, Digital Bindery checks your account, gathers any updated pages from your list, and delivers them to your e-mail in-box as a Java-activated attachment. Click on the attachment and Digital Bindery launches your Java-enabled browser (either online or offline, whichever you prefer) and displays the page.

Bindery won’t deliver any linked pages, however, and it scouts for updated pages only once each morning, so its usefulness is limited. It also can’t deliver Java or Shockwave page elements, though U.S. Interactive says upgrades may add this capability.

Also, informal testing using both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer found Bindery’s frame-heavy registration process to be time-consuming and prone to stalling (Bindery is compatible with Netscape Navigator 2.0 or better and Internet Explorer 3.0 or better.)

Bindery’s strength is in its simplicity: no software to download, no content restrictions, and compatibility with major browsers and most e-mail platforms.

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