Back from the Ashes: The Internet Appliance

Earlier this morning I read a terrific article from cnet’s Ina Fried about the state of the “Internet Appliance”.

Basically, the Internet Appliance rested on the idea that there were, to paraphrase Ms. Fried, many “on-ramps” to the Internet (more specifically the web). These “on-ramps” would give relatively fast, simplified access to the web in order to access information.

There’s no doubt it was a great idea, but the execution was hampered by spotty, slow, and expensive internet access and a lack of justifiable content. The result was a swift and untimely death for the entire concept.

But fast forward to today and you’ll find the Internet Appliance is alive and well. While there isn’t a single product or category that can claim the “appliance” concept outright, most of us have and use these devices everyday.

Be it an iPhone or Android, a PS3 or a Wii, all of these devices have constant access to the web to some degree.

Looking again at Ms. Fried’s article, one of the most glaring examples of an appliance’s “revival” of sorts is the concept of the “Network Computer”.

Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison dreamt up the concept of a modern mainframe computer, a “thin client” that simply accessed a core computer for its computational muscle. In the 90′s, the idea fell flat. These network computers looked and acted like standard desktops, only they were designed to be used completely differently and simply didn’t have the muscle of your standard PC.

Today? Mobile “thin client” devices are everywhere and this space is slated to get a lot more competitive with devices like the iPad and the upcoming Chrome OS.

From the standpoint of a hosting provider, the needs of web users have changed dramatically since then as well. In 1999, web pages were largely static and couldn’t break. When all you’re doing is throwing an animated “hamster” gif up with a looped audio track, well, that could very well stay up forever without a hitch.

Today, even the most basic sites require databases. Whether it’s video sharing sites, online gaming, or even a simple blog with comments, it’s hard to imagine an internet that didn’t involve real time user participation of some kind.

That got me thinking, I know how my internet creation and consumption habits have changed in the past decade, but what about everyone else’s? For those who own and operate businesses, how has your company or business adapted to the modern web? For consumers, how has your experience consuming content changed with this latest generation of internet appliances?

Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, and follow ServInt on Twitter!

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Photo by Steve Rhode.