3 ms·

What makes a computer general purpose? Is an XBox 360 a general purpose computer?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
doodpants 3y ago
Every computer is general purpose at its core. But some computers ship with software/firmware that restricts the purposes accessible by the end user.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  > But some computers ship with software/firmware that restricts the purposes accessible by the end user. Which is a necessary evil if you're shipping the hardware of that "computer" at ultra low or negative margins in order to make back the investment on SW sales. Otherwise, the air force will buy boatloads of PS3s for a computer farm and scalpers will use PS5 for crypto mining and Sony would go bust from these hardware sales. Apple is in a different position as it makes crazy margins even on hardware which is arare for hardware manufacturers.
  - doodpants 3y ago
    Selling hardware at negative margins is not a "necessary" evil; it's just a business model that some manufacturers choose to impose on consumers, and then we end up with things like DRM-encumbered printer ink cartridges.
  - andersa 3y ago
    Good thing we know that Apple already makes significant profit on every sale of their hardware.
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      Yeah, it's almost as if some more healthy competition in the market would help instead of Apple being a monpopoly on mobile along with Google. Hence why we need regulations to break Apple and Google of their high horse.
38 3y ago
Would you buy an XBOX for business use? IT? devops?
- wpm 3y ago
  Would you buy an iPhone to run shell scripts and game emulators on?
  - funkyfourier 3y ago
    Actually, yes. If the iPhone was an open platform that could open it up for many use cases involving shell scripting and such. As for game emulators I already run several on my Android phone with great luck, so that is indeed a valid use case.
  - armchair_expert 3y ago
    An iPhone is just a tiny pocket computer. There is no technical reason preventing an iPhone from running shell scripts and emulators. The only reason why it can't do is because Apple controls what apps you are allowed to run on your phone.
- paulddraper 3y ago
  No, but I also wouldn't buy a iPhone for a devops machine.
  - 38 3y ago
    you obviously haven't seen Mr. Robot.
andersa 3y ago
Mass market adoption for general purposes, relevance in people's lives. Many EU citizens manage their entirely digital life from their phone, I do not know of anyone who uses an XBox 360 to do that. Not that I would be opposed to game consoles also falling under this legislation.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  It would be a shame if the way to get a closed ecosystem was to remove functionality to meet some arbitrary threshold.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    Shame for whom?
downWidOutaFite 3y ago
I would love if it applied to game consoles as well.
makeitdouble 3y ago
A computer that touts to have an app for most things in life ?
xcrunner529 3y ago
Personal computing/general tasks being done on the device vs one purpose. Like there's not just the ability to talk on the phone and message. People use it as their sole computer, apply for jobs, pay for things, research things, etc.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Every computer is general purpose at its core. But some computers ship with software/firmware that restricts the purposes accessible by the end user.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
> But some computers ship with software/firmware that restricts the purposes accessible by the end user. Which is a necessary evil if you're shipping the hardware of that "computer" at ultra low or negative margins in order to make back the investment on SW sales. Otherwise, the air force will buy boatloads of PS3s for a computer farm and scalpers will use PS5 for crypto mining and Sony would go bust from these hardware sales. Apple is in a different position as it makes crazy margins even on hardware which is arare for hardware manufacturers.
- doodpants 3y ago
  Selling hardware at negative margins is not a "necessary" evil; it's just a business model that some manufacturers choose to impose on consumers, and then we end up with things like DRM-encumbered printer ink cartridges.
- andersa 3y ago
  Good thing we know that Apple already makes significant profit on every sale of their hardware.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    Yeah, it's almost as if some more healthy competition in the market would help instead of Apple being a monpopoly on mobile along with Google. Hence why we need regulations to break Apple and Google of their high horse.

38 3y ago

Would you buy an XBOX for business use? IT? devops?

wpm 3y ago
Would you buy an iPhone to run shell scripts and game emulators on?
- funkyfourier 3y ago
  Actually, yes. If the iPhone was an open platform that could open it up for many use cases involving shell scripting and such. As for game emulators I already run several on my Android phone with great luck, so that is indeed a valid use case.
- armchair_expert 3y ago
  An iPhone is just a tiny pocket computer. There is no technical reason preventing an iPhone from running shell scripts and emulators. The only reason why it can't do is because Apple controls what apps you are allowed to run on your phone.
paulddraper 3y ago
No, but I also wouldn't buy a iPhone for a devops machine.
- 38 3y ago
  you obviously haven't seen Mr. Robot.

andersa 3y ago

Mass market adoption for general purposes, relevance in people's lives. Many EU citizens manage their entirely digital life from their phone, I do not know of anyone who uses an XBox 360 to do that. Not that I would be opposed to game consoles also falling under this legislation.

bee_rider 3y ago
It would be a shame if the way to get a closed ecosystem was to remove functionality to meet some arbitrary threshold.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  Shame for whom?

downWidOutaFite 3y ago

I would love if it applied to game consoles as well.

makeitdouble 3y ago

A computer that touts to have an app for most things in life ?

xcrunner529 3y ago

Personal computing/general tasks being done on the device vs one purpose. Like there's not just the ability to talk on the phone and message. People use it as their sole computer, apply for jobs, pay for things, research things, etc.