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Granted there's no formal definition of "bricked" it usually means a hardware requirement to restore functionality. I'd like to keep it this way even to the ge
by irjustin 7y ago
Granted there's no formal definition of "bricked" it usually means a hardware requirement to restore functionality.
I'd like to keep it this way even to the general lay person. Because if you need hardware the barrier to entry goes up significantly.
Agreed that 'bricked' is not the right term here.
- NaOH 7y ago> Granted there's no formal definition of "bricked" it usually means a hardware requirement to restore functionality. From Dictionary.app that comes standard with the Mac: "a smartphone or other electronic device that has completely ceased to function"
- dragonwriter 7y agoDictionary definitions are not formal definitions, they are attempts to capture usage. And they are almost invariably approximations except when explicitly specifying otherwise, and outside of the the more lavish of the unabridged dictionaries are also almost in invariably simplified, both in the number of definitions of any term presented and often the individual definitions, for brevity at the expense of accuracy.
- zimpenfish 7y ago> Dictionary definitions are not formal definitions, they are attempts to capture usage. But because they're "captured usage", they're generally what people would understand by the term.
- craftinator 7y agoYes, but to use a term in a technically relevant way, it needs to be tied to reality; if not, it's just marketing jargon or pseudo-tech speak. The best technical definition for this case is not by how it is most commonly understood, but how it most commonly applies. Dragonwriter makes a compelling case in that it is most commonly true that a user won't have access to the specialized hardware required to "unbrick" the device.
- gruez 7y agoCase in point: "literally" meaning both literally and metaphorically
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mthoms 7y agoSoon, we'll only be able to communicate with "likes" and "upvotes" because words will have lost all meaning.
- dllthomas 7y agoI disagree with that analysis, incidentally. "Literally" is often used when the subject is metaphorical, but that's not the same thing as it meaning "metaphorically". If you took the "literally" away, it would still be understood to be metaphorical - the "literally" is intended to strengthen. It's the normal sense of literally, used hyperbolically. In the same way, when someone says "you left me waiting for days" we don't say that "days" sometimes means tens of minutes.
- BoorishBears 7y agoThe informal definition I’ve always seen is, it’s about as useful as a brick until you physically open up the case and fix it one way or another.
- ct520 7y agoI agree. From the modding days bricked always ment hardware hack was required.. I have the same gripe about how the word is used now. Glad to see it’s not just me
- battery_cowboy 7y agoI consider bricked to be anything you need specialized tools for. So JTAG-fiddly-stuff-required would be bricked, but if I can get the thing working by moving some jumpers or entering some advanced recovery mode while reading about it on the internet, that's not bricked. It's also bricked if you have to replace hardware, like if you have to replace a chip or a board.
- DeathArrow 7y agoA good definition of bricked is "software update rendered the computer unusable for the user".
- CPLX 7y agoIndeed. Or two be even more precise, renders the computer functionally equivalent to a brick.
- mattkrause 7y agoI think the caused-by-software part is key. The Sonos "recycle mode" bricks the device. If same effect is produced by a bad capacitor (rather than a deliberately-blown efuse), it's just broken.