Information appliances will proliferate

Information appliances are not an overhyped fad such as interactive TV, push technology, or “buddy
lists.” There is substance to their promises, and the Palm Pilot is just one early example of the devoted
following they can acquire. As another example, in “Finland, people are using their Nokias to pay
bills, access bus schedules on the mobile-phone display and punch in payment codes for car washes
or juke-box tunes” [Levy]. We will want all these services, as well as a variety of others that have not
been thought of yet.
Fuller and more eloquent expositions of what information appliances will bring us can be found
in [Levy, Norman]. I will mention briefly just two key points. One is that the information appliance
is the natural outcome in the evolution of information processing. That is why they were foreseen a
long time ago, with the late Mark Weiser the most influential early pioneer. Digital computers started
out as expensive mainframes accessible to a few. The next step was the PC that individuals could own.
Yet even the PC was for a long time an expensive instrument, and there was seldom more than one per
house. Thus it was essential to have as much functionality in the PC as possible. Technology is making
feasible small and inexpensive devices that are smart. This helps push the intelligence closer to the
people, the ultimate customers.
The second point is that there is already a proliferation of primitive information appliances. The
average middle-class American household already has around 40 microprocessors, in cell phones, microwave
ovens, self-focusing cameras, and the like. Furthermore, many of these microprocessors are
astonishingly powerful. For example, the latest game consoles have more processing power than the
supercomputers of a decade ago. However, this power is hidden from the users, who see only a simple
interface designed to provide just the basic functionality the device is designed for. Thus the “invisible
computers” are already with us in large numbers. What is still lacking is the pervasive communication
system that will link them together.