In general terms, an information appliance or information device is any machine or device that is usable for the purposes of computing, telecommunicating, reproducing, and presenting encoded information in myriad forms and applications. The common technical usage of "information appliance" (IA) is more specific — i.e., an appliance that is specially designed to perform a specific user-friendly function —such as playing music, photography, or editing text.
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.
Read more about Information Appliance: Appliance Vs Computer, Walled Gardens Versus Open Standards
Famous quotes containing the words information and/or appliance:
“Computers are good at swift, accurate computation and at storing great masses of information. The brain, on the other hand, is not as efficient a number cruncher and its memory is often highly fallible; a basic inexactness is built into its design. The brain’s strong point is its flexibility. It is unsurpassed at making shrewd guesses and at grasping the total meaning of information presented to it.”
—Jeremy Campbell (b. 1931)
“Diseases desperate grown
By desperate appliance are relieved,
Or not at all.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)