Word for an Internet-enabled computing device

[Victor Steinbok]

I just saw references to "appliance" in Wired, PC Mag and a few other
places just this week (current articles). So the "out of use" claim is
at best exaggerated. I also just sent out another message with a brief
explanation. That part of Wiki description is just wrong. On the other
hand, AFAICT it has now been truncated to just "appliance", which, I
suspect, is slightly more preferable to "device".

VS-)

On 9/26/2011 5:35 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> According to your citation, the term has called out of use. I'm not familiar with it, though I think it's no less unattractive than "computing device" :)
>
> BB
>
> On Sep 26, 2011, at 2:30 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>
>> I thought the generic term was "appliance"--as in "internet appliance".
>>
>>  From Wiki:
>>
>>> An Internet appliance is a consumer device whose main function is easy
>>> access to Internet services such as WWW or e-mail.[1] The term was
>>> popularized in the 1990s, when it somewhat overlapped in meaning with
>>> an information appliance, Internet computer, network computer, or even
>>> thin client,[2] 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 phones and
>>> tablet computers do approximately the same things, but are more
>>> powerful, more successful in the market, and generally not classified
>>> as Internet appliances.
>>      VS-)

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