I’m currently ploughing through some old content on behalf of a Whitehall client, dutifully migrating all the ‘public record’ stuff ahead of an imminent site relaunch (of which more next week). I just came across a press release from April 2000, which promised:
A groundbreaking Government portal to be launched in July – the first of its kind. This will provide a single electronic point of entry to central and local Government which will be able to access all services. It will be capable of personalisation – with citizens able to match the home page to their own interests. It will also use push technology, so it can send reminders about changes in services or important dates. A future example could be, receiving a personal e-mail when your TV licence or car tax needs renewing.
Er, whatever happened? (Two years earlier, I’d produced the groundbreaking Foreign Office website which included homepage personalisation and push technology, so yes – it was possible.)