Types of Information Appliances

I was recently asked about the information appliances (specialized devices) in the device taxonomy. I'm not certain that this classification would be more than an intellectual exercise, as the nature of an information appliance is to fit a precise niche in the market, which can happen anywhere.

Regardless, I started thinking about it and found that a simple hierarchy did not adequately describe the space because there are varying degrees of mobility involved. Thus a first pass at the classification has use types as well as degree of mobility:

Baggable means that you can lug it around in a backpack, tote, or briefcase. The Information row has devices that present or capture information, with little interactivity with the user. Feel free to argue about cameras, which are certain information appliances but may not fit in the information subcategory.

On a side note, the dotMobi mTLD (mobile top level domain) has just been released and is in the sunrise registration period…the promise of dotMobi is to ensure that those sites with dotMobi extension will be tuned to mobile browsing…it is thus expected to make mobile browsing a far more enriching experience.

One can expect a number of .mobi web sites – those that conform with standards for mobile browsing – to be online starting Oct 2006???while opinion is divided whether dotMobi will revolutionise mobile browsing or would be just another flash in the pan, when one considers that there are four mobile phones for every PC on earth, it certainly appears worth trying out a separate TLD

More info on dotMobi can be found at Mobinomy.com @ http://www.mobinomy.com , this site also plans to start a dotMobi directory soon

Ec from IT, Software Database @ http://www.eit.in