Home Computing Services. Relevance of the Topic

Relevance of the Topic. The 1990s and the current decade have experienced tremendous growth in computers and telecommunications, and, for the first time, developments in technologies in the home followed in close proximity to their correlates in the corporate world. Notably, the diffusion of the Internet into the private sector has proceeded at enormous pace. Not only has the number of households with Internet access skyrocketed, but also access speed, number of users within the household, types of uses, and mobility of access have expanded.

In some cases, corporate use of technologies followed private home use (e.g., for Instant Messenger and other chat applications). Popular private applications such as music and video downloads initially required access to large corporate or academic networks because of capacity needs. Such applications encouraged the increasing diffusion of broadband into private homes.

Home and business technologies are increasingly intertwined because of the increasingly rapid pace of innovation. Also, home information technology (IT) may experience growth during times of economic slowdown because of price decline or network effects (DVD; Internet in the early 1990s; wireless today).

Although convergence is a predominant trend, a market for private IT applications separate from the corporate market is evolving as well. Price decline and miniaturization encourage the perspective of ubiquitous computing and of a networked society.

Definitions. A range of concepts have evolved that permit the conceptual separation of business/public computing services from those related to the home or private use. One definition points to all the infrastructures and applications the private user can take advantage of for private uses. This definition encompasses most applications discussed in this article, notably entertainment, information, communication, and shopping.

Some other applications cross over into the public or business realm, in particular telework and distance learning. Although this article focuses on services in the home, more recently miniaturization and mobile technologies have blurred the line between home and other locations. Mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), personal entertainment technologies all are designed to extend applications that are conveniently available in the home to any location the user chooses.

Home computing trends revolve around various household functionalities, notably entertainment, information, purchasing, education, work, and health. During an age of networks, these applications are often no longer merely household related, but they require integration of home and business technologies. A key trend observed during the past decade has been the convergence of technologies, of content, and of applications.

Structure of this Article. Although understanding the technological advances in this area is important, much of the technology is derived from corporate computing applications and adopted for home use. Thus, this article will focus on content and usage of home computing more so than on technical details.

This article explores key issues pertaining to home computing products and services. In particular, it will discuss convergence of technology and other current technological trends related to end-user devices and networking. Selected services for the home will be addressed in light of technological changes.

As the technology becomes more available and common, concepts such as “computerized homes,’’ ‘‘Home-IT,’’ “information society,’’ or ‘‘networked society’’ are increasingly defined by the services with which they are associated. The article concludes with future Home-IT trends.