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I don't think that's fair. Phones used to be connected by wires, then there where a few satellite connected phones, and nowadays most are connected by cellular.
by esperent 2y ago
I don't think that's fair. Phones used to be connected by wires, then there where a few satellite connected phones, and nowadays most are connected by cellular. But they're all phones because that's what we call a device used to connect and talk to people at long distance using a registry of numbers or names. This one connects using WiFi, which is unusual. But it has the same basic functionality of being a phone.
- cultofmetatron 2y agoby your definition, my laptop is a phone too.
- guerrilla 2y agoNo, that's not the primary purpose of your laptop.
- cultofmetatron 2y agotell that to my mom! :P
- Topfi 2y agoBy that logic, neither are modern day smartphones.
- guerrilla 2y agoI agree. That's why I prefer the term mobile, since I can at least pretend it means mobile computer.
- itintheory 2y agoI'm partial to "com" - short for computer, or communicator. Hasn't caught on yet though.
- patapong 2y agoLet's go back to PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Although in this day and age I feel like I am the assistant to my phone, so maybe that is no longer accurate.
- andai 2y agoA videophone, no less!
- NBJack 2y agoCorrect, it can be a phone: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phone https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phone
- lolinder 2y agoFor the last 10 years the default definition of "phone" (unmodified) has been "cell phone". These days if you want to refer to a landline you call it that. If you want to refer to a WiFi phone you call it that. The primary function of a "phone" in the modern sense is to allow people to reach you (by means of SMS or voice) wherever you happen to be at the time. Something that doesn't meet that need isn't an unqualified "phone".
- rkagerer 2y agoI find it interesting you mentioned SMS first, before voice. When I say "phone" I primarily think of a tool for phone calls. I'm probably older than you.
- doubleg72 2y agoOr it's just alphabetical
- ratrocket 2y ago> If you want to refer to a WiFi phone you call it that. To its credit, the thing under discussion is literally called "WiPhone", which sounds to me like a direct play on "WiFi phone".
- TrapLord_Rhodo 2y ago>by means of SMS It's can't make calls but it does send SMS via a low-frequency radio, so you can send text messages in the middle of a jungle. Technically your cellular phone can't do that unless it's connected to starlink.
- sophacles 2y agoHow about we define "phone" as a voice capable device that is reachable by its assigned phone number. It's the unifying factor for dozens of different technologies that have been called "phone" for decades. Anything else seems absurd.
- lolinder 2y ago
- lelanthran 2y ago> But it has the same basic functionality of being a phone. Where I am, simply making calls over IP is not enough to qualify a device as a phone. If it cannot phone the local police station, the local pharmacy or the local clinic, it's not really a phone.
- prmoustache 2y ago>If it cannot phone the local police station, the local pharmacy or the local clinic, it's not really a phone. It can if you have a SIP provider. The only limitation depending on your provider might be emergency numbers. What it is not is a mobile phone. But it is totally a SIP phone.
- catherd 2y agoYes, most commercial SIP providers are required by law to support emergency services, at least in the US. If we're getting technical it is a mobile phone, just not a cellular phone. A cellular phone will work anywhere it can get a compatible cellular signal and this will work anywhere with decent WiFi.
- ranger_danger 2y agoWhy is it not fair to have a disagreement on terminology? There is not even a right or wrong answer here IMO, I think it's all subjective. If you want to get technical, the dictionary definition of a phone is "electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds"... which landlines, VoIP/WiFi and cellular all fit the bill.