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{{Short description|Mobile device that can process information}}
{{Distinguish2|[[computer appliance]] or [[Internet appliance]]}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Computer appliance]] or [[Internet appliance]]}}
[[Image:Apple Newton MP100.jpg|thumb|A [[Newton (platform)|Newton]] [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]]]]
[[File:Apple Newton MP100.jpg|thumb|A [[Newton (platform)|Newton]] [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]]]]
In general terms, an '''information appliance''' or '''information device''' is any [[machine]] or [[Tool|device]] that is usable for the purposes of [[computing]], [[telecommunication|telecommunicating]], [[reproduction|reproducing]], and [[presentation|presenting]] encoded [[information]] in myriad forms and applications.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}
[[File:Android Foldable Phones.jpg|thumb|[[Android (operating system)|Android]] [[Smartphone|smartphones]]]]
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The common technical usage of "'''information appliance'''" ('''IA''') is more specific &mdash; i.e., an appliance that is specially designed to perform a specific [[user-friendly]] function &mdash;such as [[Digital audio player|playing music]], [[photography]], or [[text editor|editing text]].<ref>{{Cite book | author=Pirhonen, A.; Isomäki, H.; Roast, C.; Saariluoma, Pertti | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Future Interaction Design | date= | publisher=Springer | location= | isbn=1-85233-791-5 | page=129 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vzaBpX9JVu0C&pg=PA129&dq=computer+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005&num=100#PPA129,M1 | accessdate=2008-05-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | author=Benyon, David; Turner, Phil; Turner, Susan | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Contexts, Technologies | date= | publisher=Addison Wesley Publishing Company | location= | isbn=0-321-11629-1 | page=18 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iWe7VkFW0zMC&pg=PA18&dq=Weiser+appliance+date:2003-2009&num=100#PPA18,M1 | accessdate=2008-05-06 }}</ref>


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An '''information appliance''' ('''IA''') is an appliance that is designed to easily perform a specific electronic function such as [[Digital audio player|playing music]], [[photography]], or [[text editor|editing text]].<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Pirhonen, A. |author2=Isomäki, H. |author3=Roast, C. |author4=Saariluoma, Pertti | title=Future Interaction Design |date=4 January 2005 | publisher=Springer | isbn=1-85233-791-5 | page=129 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vzaBpX9JVu0C&dq=computer+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005&pg=PA129 | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Benyon, David |author2=Turner, Phil |author3=Turner, Susan | title=Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Contexts, Technologies | publisher=Addison Wesley Publishing Company | isbn=0-321-11629-1 | page=18 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iWe7VkFW0zMC&dq=Weiser+appliance+date:2003-2009&pg=PA18 | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref>
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Typical examples are [[smartphone]]s and [[personal digital assistant]]s ([[PDA]]s). Information appliances partially overlap in definition with, or are sometimes referred to as smart devices, [[embedded system]]s, [[mobile device]]s or wireless devices.

⚫
Typical examples are [[smartphone]]s and [[personal digital assistant]]s (PDAs). Information appliances partially overlap in definition with, or are sometimes referred to as, smart devices, [[embedded system]]s, [[mobile device]]s or wireless devices.


== Appliance vs computer ==
== Appliance vs computer ==
⚫
The term ''information appliance'' was coined by [[Jef Raskin]] around 1979.<ref>{{Cite book | author=Bergman, Eric | title=Information Appliances and Beyond (Interactive Technologies) | publisher=Morgan Kaufmann | isbn=1-55860-600-9 | pages=2–3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtPlin2FNXMC&pg=PA3 | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | author=Allan, Roy | title=A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology | year=2001 | publisher=Allan Pub. | location=London, Ont. | isbn=0-9689108-0-7 | page=49 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLabRYnGrOcC&dq=computing+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005&pg=PA12 | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref> As later explained by [[Donald Norman]] in his influential ''The Invisible Computer'',<ref>{{Cite book | author=Norman, Donald A. | title=The invisible computer: why good products can fail, the personal computer is so complex, and information appliances are the solution | year=1998 | publisher=MIT Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | isbn=0-262-64041-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/invisiblecompute00norm_0 }}</ref> the main characteristics of IA, as opposed to any normal [[computer]], were:

⚫
The term ''information appliance'' was coined by [[Jef Raskin]] around 1979, and later expounded on by Dr. Robert Touchton of Penn State for the WatchStander project. <ref>{{cite web |url=www.watchstander.com |title= |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= |website= |publisher= |accessdate=9 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | author=Bergman, Eric | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Information Appliances and Beyond (Interactive Technologies) | date= | publisher=Morgan Kaufmann | location= | isbn=1-55860-600-9 | pages=2–3 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wtPlin2FNXMC&printsec=frontcover#PPA3,M1 | accessdate=2008-05-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | author=Allan, Roy | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology | year=2001 | publisher=Allan Pub. | location=London, Ont. | isbn=0-9689108-0-7 | page=49 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FLabRYnGrOcC&pg=PA12&dq=computing+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005&num=100#PPA49,M1 | accessdate=2008-05-06 }}</ref> As later explained by [[Donald Norman]] in his influential ''The Invisible Computer'',<ref>{{Cite book | author=Norman, Donald A. | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=The invisible computer: why good products can fail, the personal computer is so complex, and information appliances are the solution | year=1998 | publisher=MIT Press | location=Cambridge, Mass. | isbn=0-262-64041-4 | pages= | url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_invisible_computer_a01.html }}</ref> the main characteristics of IA, as opposed to any normal [[computer]], were:
* designed and pre-configured for a single application (like a toaster appliance, which is designed only to make toast),
* designed and pre-configured for a single application (like a toaster appliance, which is designed only to make toast),
* so easy to use for untrained people, that it effectively becomes unnoticeable, "invisible" to them,
* so easy to use for untrained people, that it effectively becomes unnoticeable, "invisible" to them,
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This definition of IA was different from today's. Jef Raskin initially tried to include such features in the [[Apple Macintosh]], which he designed, but eventually the project went a quite different way. For a short while during the mid- and late 1980s, there were a few models of simple electronic [[typewriter]]s with screens and some form of memory storage. These dedicated [[word processor]] machines had some of the attributes of an information appliance, and Raskin designed one of them, the [[Canon Cat]]. He described some properties of his definition of information appliance in his book ''[[The Humane Interface]]''.
This definition of IA was different from today's. Jef Raskin initially tried to include such features in the [[Apple Macintosh]], which he designed, but eventually the project went a quite different way. For a short while during the mid- and late 1980s, there were a few models of simple electronic [[typewriter]]s with screens and some form of memory storage. These dedicated [[word processor]] machines had some of the attributes of an information appliance, and Raskin designed one of them, the [[Canon Cat]]. He described some properties of his definition of information appliance in his book ''[[The Humane Interface]]''.


[[Larry Ellison]], [[Oracle Corporation]] CEO, predicted that information appliances and [[network computer]]s would supersede personal computers (PCs).<ref>{{Cite book | author=Walters, E. Garrison | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=The essential guide to computing | year=2001 | publisher=Prentice Hall PTR | location=Upper Saddle River, NJ | isbn=0-13-019469-7 | page=13 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=AwrQsOW5SsQC&pg=PA398&dq=information+network+desktop+computer+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005&num=100#PPA398,M1 | accessdate=2008-05-06 }}</ref> This prediction has not yet come true.
[[Larry Ellison]], [[Oracle Corporation]] CEO, predicted that information appliances and [[network computer]]s would supersede personal computers (PCs).<ref>{{Cite book | author=Walters, E. Garrison | title=The essential guide to computing | year=2001 | publisher=Prentice Hall PTR | location=Upper Saddle River, NJ | isbn=0-13-019469-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00walt/page/13 13] | url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00walt | url-access=registration | quote=information network desktop computer IT appliance 1970-2005. | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref>

== Walled gardens versus open standards ==
In an ideal world, any true information appliance would be able to communicate with any other information appliance using [[open standard]] protocols and technologies, regardless of the maker of the software or the hardware.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} The communications aspects and all [[user interface]] elements would be designed together so that a user could switch seamlessly from one information appliance to another.

Some vendors are attempting to create "[[walled garden (media)|walled gardens]]" of closed proprietary content for information appliances, leveraging existing proprietary technologies. However, with the exception of NTT DoCoMo's [[i-mode]] and Apple's [[App Store (iOS)|App Store]], these efforts have been less successful than predicted, due to the willingness of most vendors to work together within open standards frameworks,{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} and the pre-existing widespread adoption of open standards such as [[GSM]], [[Internet Protocol|IP]], [[Short message service|SMS]] and [[SMTP]].


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Archy]]
* [[Archy (software)|Archy]]
* [[Computer appliance]]
* [[Computer appliance]]
* [[Embedded system]]
* [[Embedded system]]
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* [[Technological convergence]]
* [[Technological convergence]]
* [[Ubiquitous computing]]
* [[Ubiquitous computing]]
* [[Smart speaker]]


== References ==
== References ==
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== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|Appliance}}
{{Wiktionary|Appliance}}
* [http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209/ Compact HTML for Small Information Appliances &mdash; W3C NOTE 09-Feb-1998]
* [http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209/ Compact HTML for Small Information Appliances &mdash; W3C NOTE] (9 February 1998)


{{Computer sizes}}
{{Computer sizes}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Information Appliance}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Information Appliance}}

Latest revision as of 12:39, 1 July 2023

Not to be confused with Computer appliance or Internet appliance.
A Newton PDA
Android smartphones

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.[1][2]

Typical examples are smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Information appliances partially overlap in definition with, or are sometimes referred to as, smart devices, embedded systems, mobile devices or wireless devices.

Appliance vs computer

[edit]

The term information appliance was coined by Jef Raskin around 1979.[3][4] As later explained by Donald Norman in his influential The Invisible Computer,[5] the main characteristics of IA, as opposed to any normal computer, were:

  • designed and pre-configured for a single application (like a toaster appliance, which is designed only to make toast),
  • so easy to use for untrained people, that it effectively becomes unnoticeable, "invisible" to them,
  • able to automatically share information with any other IAs.

This definition of IA was different from today's. Jef Raskin initially tried to include such features in the Apple Macintosh, which he designed, but eventually the project went a quite different way. For a short while during the mid- and late 1980s, there were a few models of simple electronic typewriters with screens and some form of memory storage. These dedicated word processor machines had some of the attributes of an information appliance, and Raskin designed one of them, the Canon Cat. He described some properties of his definition of information appliance in his book The Humane Interface.

Larry Ellison, Oracle Corporation CEO, predicted that information appliances and network computers would supersede personal computers (PCs).[6]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Pirhonen, A.; Isomäki, H.; Roast, C.; Saariluoma, Pertti (4 January 2005). Future Interaction Design. Springer. p. 129. ISBN 1-85233-791-5. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  2. ^ Benyon, David; Turner, Phil; Turner, Susan. Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Contexts, Technologies. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. p. 18. ISBN 0-321-11629-1. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  3. ^ Bergman, Eric. Information Appliances and Beyond (Interactive Technologies). Morgan Kaufmann. pp. 2–3. ISBN 1-55860-600-9. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  4. ^ Allan, Roy (2001). A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology. London, Ont.: Allan Pub. p. 49. ISBN 0-9689108-0-7. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  5. ^ Norman, Donald A. (1998). The invisible computer: why good products can fail, the personal computer is so complex, and information appliances are the solution. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-64041-4.
  6. ^ Walters, E. Garrison (2001). The essential guide to computing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. p. 13. ISBN 0-13-019469-7. Retrieved 2008-05-06. information network desktop computer IT appliance 1970-2005.
[edit]
Look up Appliance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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