Email can be read through a client that downloads from a server, online through a website, or with push email that forwards to a portable device. Push email has drawbacks including battery consumption and unreliable receipt.
Email is a system for sending and receiving virtual text messages over the Internet or other computer networks, and there are at least three ways email recipients can read their mail. First, recipients can use a client to pull mail from the server at their ISP (Internet Service Provider) or other server location where it lands. In this system, called “pull email”, the user can set the client to poll the server at a desired interval or simply poll when desired, and any available email is downloaded when the server is checked. Alternatively, they may choose to go online, through their ISP or another service website, and read their email there, without downloading it to a desktop or laptop computer. Finally, they may decide to use push email, which, like any system, has its drawbacks.
Push email is email that is received once, on a server or desktop, and then forwarded to a laptop, PDA, or other portable device. Push email is an example of “push technology”. Push technology is automated from the sending end; pull technology is automated or directed from the receiving end.
For some people and in some professions the difference between pull and push can be crucial: messages need to be received as instantly as possible. For many people, however, it’s worth considering the drawbacks of push email and making an educated decision between push email and pull email.
For one thing, there can be drawbacks from push systems that are actually pull systems in disguise. This happens because in these services, rather than just sending the email, the server sends text messages to tell the PDA, smartphone or laptop to fetch the mail from the server, and texts can be included in the SMS count. This can add up. This depends on the email client, email server and the particular device being used.
Another problem is that some users say that push email consumes more battery than pull email because the email is transferred more times. Also, not everyone has the same access to push technology, so the sender can assume receipt when it hasn’t actually occurred. In situations like these, it’s possible that a text message would have been more effective and a choice the user could have made, had she known. Finally, smartphones and other devices that receive push mails may have a built-in feature to notify the user with an alert. Some people get so many emails that being notified every time one is received is impractical and annoying.
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