No.4  May 1, 2000   Creating a Ubiquitous Networking Market:Information Appliances   Akira OTSUKA        Like consumer electronic appliances, information appliances are user-friendly. In addition, they lend themselves to specialized use, while still being eminently suited to networking. Ubiquitous networks for which the most common element is information appliances have the following four main features: (1) they can be optimized for particular services and content to provide stress-free use; (2) they can be connected to digital broadcast services and a whole range of communications networks; (3) it is easy to incorporate copyright protection features, and they are particularly suited to popularizing digital content; and (4) their ease of use (on a par with that of consumer electronic appliances) means that they can help to bridge the digital divide. These are all features capable of causing an explosion in network population and use.    However, even information appliances need appealing content. If ubiquitous networking is to take off, the sooner the public and private sectors in Japan join forces to create a ubiquitous networking market with appealing services and content, the better. Contents I Major Changes and Moves Towards Ubiquitous Networking II Information Appliances Currently in Use 1 The Beginnings of Information Appliances 2 The Technology Underlying Information Appliances III Creating a Ubiquitous Networking Market 1 The Bottom-Up Approach 2 The Top-Down Approach IV The Future of Ubiquitous Networking GO to PDF