Web-Conferencing Benefits and Drawbacks

---

Benefits vs. Drawbacks

BENEFITS:



Web conferencing                  NNTP comparison


(1) Universal client; no software      (2) Relies on separate newsreader (but
     installation required                  these are common)
(1) Relies on connectionless HTTP,     (2) Relies on connection orientation,
     which scales well and                  which is less scalable and less
     tolerates lousy networks               fault-tolerant (but still usable)
(1) Supports public and private        (1) Also supports public and private
     conferencing                           c
onferencing
(1) Rich text, graphics, and           (2) Hyperlinking & rudimentary graphics
     hyperlinking                           supported in some newsreaders
                                            (e.g., Navigator 2.0)
(1) Travels easily through many        (3) Won't go easily through firewalls
     gateways and firewalls            






DRAWBACKS:



Web conferencing                 NNTP comparison


(2) Immature; cumbersome user          (1) Sophisticated and responsive
      interfaces                            user interfaces
(3) No server-to-client replication    (2) Some newsreaders (e.g., Forte's
                                            Free Agent) work off-line
(3) No server-to-server replication    (1) Mature server-to-server replication:
                                            It's the backbone of the Usenet



KEY:


(1)
 Full benefit

(2)
 Partial benefit

(3)
 No benefit