Why is any personal electronic communication contraption now called a 'device'? Is that another word that has lost its meaning? I always refer to the electric talking machine in my pocket as a telephone.
Mine is also a ‘phone - but not only that. It is a text message, a camera, a torch, a compass, a calculator, a map/navigational aid, a dictionary, a notebook, a means of accessing the internet, a banking tool etc. etc.
I tend to refer to it simply as my ‘phone, but I can’t fault others for whom that seems an inadequate description, or for whom the telephone function is not the main way they use the device.
Why is any personal electronic communication contraption now called a 'device'? Is that another word that has lost its meaning? I always refer to the electric talking machine in my pocket as a telephone.
Mine is also a ‘phone - but not only that. It is a text message, a camera, a torch, a compass, a calculator, a map/navigational aid, a dictionary, a notebook, a means of accessing the internet, a banking tool etc. etc.
I tend to refer to it simply as my ‘phone, but I can’t fault others for whom that seems an inadequate description, or for whom the telephone function is not the main way they use the device.
The term "device" probably includes some non-electronic gadgets. I once had a student, an engineering major, who carried and knew how to us an abacus, a wooden calculating device. In my college chemistry class, I found my slide rule very useful. Babbage's famous calculating machine was pre-electronic. The telegraph and the facsimile machine both preceded computers, as did Edison's stock ticker.
The term "device" probably includes some non-electronic gadgets. I once had a student, an engineering major, who carried and knew how to us an abacus, a wooden calculating device. In my college chemistry class, I found my slide rule very useful. Babbage's famous calculating machine was pre-electronic. The telegraph and the facsimile machine both preceded computers, as did Edison's stock ticker.
I wonder if I can interest you in my mechanical Fourier analyser.
Why is any personal electronic communication contraption now called a 'device'? Is that another word that has lost its meaning? I always refer to the electric talking machine in my pocket as a telephone.
It's a convenient word that encompasses all the electronic distractors / communicators that people might have with them. I don't want to argue about whether your Apple watch is a telephone or not - I just want it silenced or absent as appropriate.
Tablet computers connected to the WiFi might look like phones and might be used a lot like phones, but are not actually phones.
Why is any personal electronic communication contraption now called a 'device'? Is that another word that has lost its meaning? I always refer to the electric talking machine in my pocket as a telephone.
It's a convenient word that encompasses all the electronic distractors / communicators that people might have with them. I don't want to argue about whether your Apple watch is a telephone or not - I just want it silenced or absent as appropriate.
Tablet computers connected to the WiFi might look like phones and might be used a lot like phones, but are not actually phones.
And also they're managed together corporately. If something runs Android or iOS it's pretty much the same under the hood from a management viewpoint in terms of policy, apps, permissions and so on.
The term "device" probably includes some non-electronic gadgets. I once had a student, an engineering major, who carried and knew how to us an abacus, a wooden calculating device. In my college chemistry class, I found my slide rule very useful. Babbage's famous calculating machine was pre-electronic. The telegraph and the facsimile machine both preceded computers, as did Edison's stock ticker.
I wonder if I can interest you in my mechanical Fourier analyser.
Goodness! Having to work out Fourier calculations (manually!) did my head in when I was studying mechanical engineering at Uni. I was thankfully able to give up the maths stream in my final year.
Back to 'device' - it looked like 'PDA' (personal digital assistant) might become the name for a thing like this, a bit over 20 years ago when I did some work for whatever ICL turned into ('Celestica'?) shortly before it disappeared altogether. I guess the PDA name died about the same time. A search rather ominously brings up the Pensions Ombudsman. I'm glad I only consulted for them...
'Award winning' seems to apply to almost anything these days, from Nobel prize winners to the maker of cup cakes at the market who was given the award by his mother to encourage him. Mostly though, the giver of the award is never mentioned. Does it matter? Probably not; it's just one of the many things that annoy me every day. I would have made an exception for the Carbuncle Awards for architecture, but I understand that just to further annoy me and others like me, it has been abolished. I could be an award winning curmudgeon.
I recall an ad for 'the most awarded mattress' - but no mention of the achievements for which it was bestowed. Admittedly more useful than the customary silver cup/crystal vase, but a bugger to lug off the platform I'd have thought.
'Award winning' seems to apply to almost anything these days, from Nobel prize winners to the maker of cup cakes at the market who was given the award by his mother to encourage him. Mostly though, the giver of the award is never mentioned. Does it matter? Probably not; it's just one of the many things that annoy me every day. I would have made an exception for the Carbuncle Awards for architecture, but I understand that just to further annoy me and others like me, it has been abolished. I could be an award winning curmudgeon.
Like the just-published novel which is apparently the 'Number One Best Seller'. Or is that the author? Number One on which list? In which country? Either way it's a meaningless (because unverifiable) puff which overuse has rendered ineffective.
Comments
I tend to refer to it simply as my ‘phone, but I can’t fault others for whom that seems an inadequate description, or for whom the telephone function is not the main way they use the device.
Nice!
I rather like the German term for it—ein Handy.
I wonder if I can interest you in my mechanical Fourier analyser.
It's a convenient word that encompasses all the electronic distractors / communicators that people might have with them. I don't want to argue about whether your Apple watch is a telephone or not - I just want it silenced or absent as appropriate.
Tablet computers connected to the WiFi might look like phones and might be used a lot like phones, but are not actually phones.
And also they're managed together corporately. If something runs Android or iOS it's pretty much the same under the hood from a management viewpoint in terms of policy, apps, permissions and so on.
Goodness! Having to work out Fourier calculations (manually!) did my head in when I was studying mechanical engineering at Uni. I was thankfully able to give up the maths stream in my final year.
Back to 'device' - it looked like 'PDA' (personal digital assistant) might become the name for a thing like this, a bit over 20 years ago when I did some work for whatever ICL turned into ('Celestica'?) shortly before it disappeared altogether. I guess the PDA name died about the same time. A search rather ominously brings up the Pensions Ombudsman. I'm glad I only consulted for them...
Like the just-published novel which is apparently the 'Number One Best Seller'. Or is that the author? Number One on which list? In which country? Either way it's a meaningless (because unverifiable) puff which overuse has rendered ineffective.