An Internet appliance is a consumer device whose main function is easy access to

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

services such as

WWW The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

. The term was popularized in the 1990s, when it somewhat overlapped in meaning with an

information appliance An information appliance (IA) is an appliance that is designed to easily perform a specific electronic function such as playing music, photography, or editing text. Typical examples are smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Inf ...

desktop computer A desktop computer, often abbreviated as desktop, is a personal computer designed for regular use at a stationary location on or near a desk (as opposed to a portable computer) due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuratio ...

network computer In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are som ...

, or even

thin client In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-Computer performance, performance) computer that has been Program optimization, optimized for Remote desktop, establishing a remote connectio ...

, but now it has fallen out of general use. Internet appliances were contrasted with any general purpose

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

, but unlike personal computers, internet appliances were low cost and low margin products, usually using highly optimised low power silicon specifically built for internet use. Modern

smart phone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s and

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s do approximately the same things, but are more powerful, more successful in the market, and generally not classified as Internet appliances.

History

Internet appliances were promoted by a variety of technology companies during the 1990s but, as the price of full-featured computers dropped, never met the market expectations. Jim Louderback would later describe the concept as one of the "eight biggest tech flops ever". An

Internet tablet A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computer ...

is a type of a mobile Internet appliance. Examples include the Sony AirboardMartyn Williams 02 November, 2010
Sony's ten biggest flops, Techworld.com.au and the

Nokia Internet Tablet Nokia Internet Tablets is the name given to a range of Nokia mobile Internet appliances products. These tablets fall in the range between a personal digital assistant (PDA) and an Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC), and slightly below Intel's Mobile Internet ...

series (including the

Nokia N900 The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia, launched at Nokia World on 2 September 2009 and released in November. Superseding the Nokia N810, the N900's default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia ...

). Early in the 21st century a new breed of household devices, such as Vonage

Internet Phone Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

s, PenguinRadio's

Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

, and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

boxes, began to use the broadband connections in PC-independent ways.

Notable devices

Current

* aigo MID *

Chromebook Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a line of laptops, desktops, tablets and all-in-one computers that run ChromeOS, a proprietary operating system developed by Google. Chromebooks are optimised for web access. They al ...

* Litl Webbook * MailBug *

Personal Internet Communicator The Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) is a consumer device released by AMD in 2004 as part of AMD's 50x15 Initiative to enable people in emerging countries access to the internet. The PIC was deployed by Internet service providers (ISPs) in s ...

Discontinued

3Com Audrey The 3Com Ergo Audrey is a discontinued internet appliance from 3Com. It was released to the public on October 17, 2000, for USD499 as the only device in the company's "Ergo" initiative to be sold. Once connected to an appropriate provider, users ...

Amstrad E-mailer The Amstrad E-mailer (often stylized as E-m@iler or written as Emailer or Em@iler) is a Personal Communication Centre that is a landline phone device, launched in March 2000. History Design and release The idea for the Amstrad E-mailer was ...

* CIDCo Mivo/MailStation *

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation was an American information technology, information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compati ...

ePod ePods, Inc., was a short-lived American technology company active from 1999 to 2000. Its flagship product was the ePodsOne (EP1), an internet appliance. ePods was founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Salton Inc. during the Dot-com bubble, dot-com bub ...

* GlobalPC *

i-Opener The i-Opener is a discontinued low-cost internet appliance produced by Netpliance (later known as TippingPoint) between 1999 and 2002. The hardware was sold as a loss leader for a monthly internet service. Because of the low cost of the hardwar ...

MSN Companion The MSN Companion was a small-scale personal computer terminal that was designed for easy access to MSN services on the Internet, such as Hotmail, while still being cheap and easy to use. They were intended for use by people with little knowledge ...

MSN TV MSN TV (formerly WebTV) was a web access product consisting of a thin client device that used a television for display (instead of using a computer monitor), and the online service that supported it. The original WebTV device design and servic ...

New Internet Computer The New Internet Computer (NIC) was a Linux-based internet appliance released July 6, 2000 by Larry Ellison and Gina Smith's New Internet Computer Company. The system (without a monitor) sold for US$199. The NIC boots from a CD-ROM with a custo ...

* Nokia 770 Internet Tablet *

Nokia N800 The Nokia N800 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the Las Vegas CES 2007 Summit in January 2007. N800 allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using Wi-Fi networks or with mobi ...

Nokia N810 The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is an Internet appliance from Nokia, announced on 17 October 2007 at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Despite Nokia's strong association with cellular products, the N810, like preceding tablets produced by N ...

* Pepper Pad * Sony Airboard * Sony eVilla * Sony Mylo * Virgin Webplayer * VTech Companion

References

External links