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

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

services such as

WWW The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

. 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 ...

Internet computer The Internet (or internet) is the 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'' that consists ...

network computer The Network Computer (or NC) was a diskless desktop computer device made by Oracle Corporation from about 1996 to 2000. The devices were designed and manufactured by an alliance, which included Sun Microsystems, IBM, and others. The devices w ...

, or even

thin client In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...

, but now it has fallen out of general use. Internet appliance was contrasted with any general purpose computer. The basic design idea behind Internet appliance is that it can be made cheaper and much more usable by narrowing its functionality and limiting available configuration options. Modern

smart phone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...

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 com ...

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

History

The first appliances to be marketed successfully gave constant information on the weather or on the state of the stock market, by means of changes in colors or by using analog gauges. 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 James Louderback (born 1961) is the CEO of VidCon, and was previously the CEO of Revision3. He has had numerous jobs in media companies involved in technology, most notably with TechTV and editor-in-chief of '' PC Magazine''. He is also well kno ...

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 compu ...

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 series (including the

Nokia N900 The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas ...

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

Internet Phone Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

s, PenguinRadio's

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

, and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...

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

Notable devices

Current

* aigo MID *

Apple iPad An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...

Chromebook A Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a laptop or tablet running the Linux-based ChromeOS as its operating system. Initially designed to heavily rely on web applications for tasks using the Google Chrome browser, Chrome ...

Litl Webbook The litl webbook is a webbook developed, marketed, and sold by litl LLC. It features the ability to stand upright in an inverted-V position (referred to as "easel mode") and a cloud-based operating system called litl OS. Origins Litl's CEO John ...

* MailBug *

Personal Internet Communicator The Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) is a consumer device released by AMD in 2004 to allow people in emerging countries access to the internet. Originally part of AMD's 50x15 Initiative, the PIC has been deployed by Internet service providers ...

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 c ...

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 c ...

* CIDCo Mivo/MailStation * Compaq iPAQ *

ePod The ePodsOne (EP1) was an internet appliance from ePods.com ( Salton) from the dot-com bubble era that lives on as a hacked platform. ePods.com was founded in 1999; the company and the EP1 was discontinued in 2000. The EP1 was described as: * ...

i-Opener The i-Opener was a low-cost internet appliance produced by Netpliance (now 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 hardware, it was popul ...

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 device design and service was developed ...

New Internet Computer The New Internet Computer (NIC) was a Linux-based internet appliance released July 6, 2000 by Larry Ellison's 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 The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on 25 May 2005. It is designed for wireless Internet browsing and email functions and includes software suc ...

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 Nok ...

Pepper Pad The Pepper Pad was a family of Linux-based mobile computers with Internet capability and which doubled as a handheld game console. They also served as a portable multimedia device. The devices used Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies for Internet c ...

* Sony Airboard * Sony eVilla *

Sony Mylo My Life Online (Mylo) was a device created and marketed by Sony for portable instant messaging and other Internet-based communications, browsing Internet web sites using the Opera web browser, Opera web browser and playback and sharing of media f ...

Virgin Webplayer The Virgin Webplayer is a discontinued Internet appliance from Virgin Group. The device was intended as a standalone Internet access device, running a specialized operating system which limited it to the Virgin Connect ISP. It was discontinued on ...

* VTech Companion

References

External links