Internet appliance

<p>An Internet appliance is a consumer device whose main function is easy access to <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a> services such as <a href="/facts/World_Wide_Web/wvnTrWFq">WWW</a> or <a href="/facts/E-mail/6pD9GLtI">e-mail</a>. The term was popularized in the 1990s, when it somewhat overlapped in meaning with an <a href="/facts/Information_appliance/HYy6s4sB">information appliance</a>, <a href="/facts/Desktop_computer/edFPINdK">desktop computer</a>, <a href="/facts/Network_computer/6hHYFbN3">network computer</a>, or even <a href="/facts/Thin_client/GtBdBho5">thin client</a>, but now it has fallen out of general use.
</p><p>Internet appliances were contrasted with any general purpose <a href="/facts/Computer/SQe1aK05">computer</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Smart_phone/cSIrBMWG">smart phones</a> and <a href="/facts/Tablet_computer/6pGX2I7b">tablet computers</a> do approximately the same things, but are more powerful, more successful in the market, and generally not classified as Internet appliances.
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Internet appliance open-in-new

Internet appliance