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> The term arose because a brick cannot be transformed into functioning electronic equipment. This makes term "bricked" somewhat theoretical, as in practice al

by avmich 6y ago

> The term arose because a brick cannot be transformed into functioning electronic equipment. This makes term "bricked" somewhat theoretical, as in practice almost any state of electronics can be turned back to functioning. In extreme cases you'll have to replace vital parts (if imagination forbids actually fixing broken microchips with a lab equipment), but in many cases it's still possible.

MaxBarraclough 6y ago
You're essentially using a sorites paradox/Ship of Theseus argument to attack the idea that a piece of electronics can ever, even in principle, be said to be 'permanently broken'. In common usage, we consider 'permanently broken' to be meaningful, we draw the line somewhere reasonable, and don't worry too much about giving a legalistic precise definition. I think my earlier examples stand up ok here. The phone is bricked, and the laptop is not. There may be edge cases where it might not be clear whether we can say whether a device is 'bricked' or not. That's not a problem. There might be an edge case in furniture where it's not clear if it's a chair or a table, but the categories of chair and table are still worth keeping. ...anyway it looks like a promising ARM-based computer ;-P
- avmich 6y ago
  I think we'd agree that term "bricked" is somewhat relative. Different people can define it - slightly or not - differently, which of course makes communications more difficult, yet for now that's where we are. The point was that the original nitpick can be questioned.
- CarelessExpert 6y ago
  > You're essentially using a sorites paradox/Ship of Theseus argument to attack the idea that a piece of electronics can ever, even in principle, be said to be 'permanently broken'. Dude, setting aside the argument itself, I never expected to see the Ship of Theseus busted out to win an internet debate... well done!
  - MaxBarraclough 6y ago
    In the proud tradition of people lacking a formal education in philosophy, I think I got it slightly wrong - the continuum fallacy is the better fit.
bigiain 6y ago
<adjusts Make America Pedantic Again fedora> Surely a typical brick contains a significant amount of silicon and sufficient trace amounts of germanium/boron/phosphorus to dope it into useable semiconductors... (That’d make for an awesome YouTube channel project. How I melted down and refined a brick into pure enough elements to make semiconductors and working electronics, in my backyard... I’d totally subscribe to that Patreon.)
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago
  Working title: Bricks into bits, or Bits of bricks.

by avmich 6y ago

MaxBarraclough 6y ago

You're essentially using a sorites paradox/Ship of Theseus argument to attack the idea that a piece of electronics can ever, even in principle, be said to be 'permanently broken'. In common usage, we consider 'permanently broken' to be meaningful, we draw the line somewhere reasonable, and don't worry too much about giving a legalistic precise definition. I think my earlier examples stand up ok here. The phone is bricked, and the laptop is not. There may be edge cases where it might not be clear whether we can say whether a device is 'bricked' or not. That's not a problem. There might be an edge case in furniture where it's not clear if it's a chair or a table, but the categories of chair and table are still worth keeping. ...anyway it looks like a promising ARM-based computer ;-P

avmich 6y ago
I think we'd agree that term "bricked" is somewhat relative. Different people can define it - slightly or not - differently, which of course makes communications more difficult, yet for now that's where we are. The point was that the original nitpick can be questioned.
CarelessExpert 6y ago
> You're essentially using a sorites paradox/Ship of Theseus argument to attack the idea that a piece of electronics can ever, even in principle, be said to be 'permanently broken'. Dude, setting aside the argument itself, I never expected to see the Ship of Theseus busted out to win an internet debate... well done!
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago
  In the proud tradition of people lacking a formal education in philosophy, I think I got it slightly wrong - the continuum fallacy is the better fit.

bigiain 6y ago

<adjusts Make America Pedantic Again fedora> Surely a typical brick contains a significant amount of silicon and sufficient trace amounts of germanium/boron/phosphorus to dope it into useable semiconductors... (That’d make for an awesome YouTube channel project. How I melted down and refined a brick into pure enough elements to make semiconductors and working electronics, in my backyard... I’d totally subscribe to that Patreon.)

MaxBarraclough 6y ago
Working title: Bricks into bits, or Bits of bricks.