A. I believe that information appliances are going to happen slowly, as indeed they already are.

Then think of an information appliance as a coffee maker.

Charging for the software as part of an information appliance or other hardware device.

The reality is that the simplest and most dependable information appliance has been around for more than a century.

There are also growing markets for such hidden computers well beyond information appliances.

Either way, the telephone, seeming recluse among information appliances, has stepped forward for good.

When those arrive, probably early next year, the era of the information appliance will be truly upon us.

It is the computer industry's immaturity that prevents development of information appliances, he says.

Then there is the potential competition from a whole new category of information appliances.

Like kitchen appliances today, information appliances a decade from now will each have a different function.