BackWeb slipped files onto computers through spare network capacity, so people kept working while the data arrived. It was a leading system for "push," one of the most hyped ideas on the early web. Instead of making people visit websites, push software sent news, updates, and files straight to their computers. By the time the Israeli company went public in June 1999, the consumer hype had faded. BackWeb sold to companies that needed to reach their own employees.

Two Brothers and BRM

Eli Barkat co-founded BackWeb in 1995 with backing from BRM, the Israeli technology group he ran with his brother Nir. The bet was that the web should come to the user. BackWeb's software used spare network capacity to deliver content quietly in the background. Users kept working while the files arrived. Large companies used it to send sales materials, software patches, and alerts across their networks.

Offline Work for Laptops

BackWeb priced its offering at $12 a share in June 1999. The stock rose with the market. Then the bubble burst, companies cut spending, and the stock fell. BackWeb moved toward software that let laptop users work offline with web applications. In 2003 Eli Barkat resigned as chief executive and went back to BRM Capital, the venture fund he had started with Nir. BackWeb stayed a small company in the years that followed.

Cover: Woman with Spider's Web Between Bare Trees, Caspar David Friedrich. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a spider's web (the web that comes to you).