It's interesting you say "just" a tool - I think the median reader here sees tool as an inherent part of what "computer" means.
I'm not trying to dismiss your perspective here, I think you have a real point about the intimacy and personal importance of modern smartphone usage. From a layperson perspective, you're absolutely correct that these deliver on the promise of "personal computer."
But to those who choose to spend more time learning and understanding them, computers are (very flexible) tools, and specifically they're tools where you get to choose the computation being performed. This is why, to me at least, (most) mobile devices simply can't be "personal computers."
Smartphones and tablets are still useful to people with that perspective - but I see them not as a computer but as an appliance. I turn it on, I turn it off, I maybe get to fiddle with a few knobs, but most of it is a black box that hopefully "just works."
And hey, I like that convenience - as long as it's not the only way I have to interact with technology.
So, it may seem pedantic, but I think it is worth distinguishing true general purpose computers from phones. They are absolutely personal - a "personal smart appliance", if you will, but not a personal computer at the end of the day.
More personal in terms of use case, sure. And it performs computations - but it's pretty clear most mobile devices are not really your computer, when push comes to shove.
So, it's hard to call it a PC at the end of the day IMO.
Sure - but it could still be pretty relevant if we want to ask about the future of beverage making and consumption, especially if new technology enables everybody to mass-produce lemonade (and similar sugary beverages) at home at minimal cost.
But much like the "debate" between linguistic prescriptivism ("'beg the question' doesn't mean 'raise the question'") and descriptivism ("language is how it is used"), both perspectives have relevance, and neither are really responses to the other.
I certainly hope people keep writing great, human, poetry. But generative ML is a systemic change to creative output in general. Poetry just happens to be in some ways simplest for the LLMs, but other art is tokens and patterns as well.
Personally, I think this would be a sin. To call something art which has no depth. We have too many things that are shallow. I think this has been detrimental to us as a society. That we're so caught up with the next thing that our leisure is anything but. What is the point of this all if not to make life more enjoyable? How can we enjoy life if we cannot have a moment to appreciate it? If we treat time off as if it is a chore that we try to get done as fast as possible? If we cannot have time to contemplate it? A world without friction is dull. It's as if we envy the machines. Perhaps we should make the world less tiring, so we have the energy to be human.
Human art most definitely can be reduced to tokens, since that's also essentially how we compress and transmit it.
Now, whether a statistical token generator makes "real art" is subjective (as human art already is). And again, I'm actually quite sympathetic to the "humans are special" perspective.
But the point of my comment is that this philosophical stance is not a practical reply to what will actually happen in terms of social dynamics and content creation/consumption. Whether we call it "real art" or not, generative tools exist and will be used. So, it makes sense to understand them, even if your goal for doing so is to mitigate their incursions into "real art."
In other words, art must adapt. Which, it always does.
The takeaway (that obfuscation is bad and specificity is valuable) is clear and uncontroversial. But an issue is that nearly every suggestion entails lengthening your prose.
There is a time and place for precision, and there is also one for concision. Marketing speak is dangerous not due to brevity but intent.
If it truly worked as a series of incremental improvements, and considered total carbon footprint (transportation costs etc.), then sure.
Those are two pretty big "ifs" - people can be inclined to satisfice and pat themselves on the back for having done some minor symbolic thing, and then not go deeper. And it's much easier to sacrifice plastic straws than question whether your "bucket list" should really have a ton of carbon intensive global travel.
Straws were also banned because of their immediate impact on ocean life, the same reason we got rid of plastic ring 6 pack can holders. Animals get them lodged in their bodies.
Most ocean plastic comes from the western world and is exported to poorer countries where corrupt companies promise to 'deal' with it which means dumping it into the ocean.
It's not the straws that are the problem, but the policy that makes it possible to export trash and look the other way.
I wholeheartedly agree. I also don't see any problem with banning the straws in the first place, and I hope it is just the beginning of plastic items we ban.
As most of the messaging on this page implies the release will occur in 2023, I figured it was worth noting this excerpt towards the bottom:
We will be exhibiting the Omnichord OM-108 and announcing the new official release date at the Winter NAMM show to be held in Los Angeles, USA from January 25, 2024.
So, release date to-be-announced, and (early) next year at that. Still, a very cool device, and I hope they get it out there.
Haven't had the chance to write for awhile, but been wanting to get back to it. In addition to normal static site stuff it has webmentions/pingbacks, comments, and (probably now broken) interoperability with Twitter (likes would show up as webmentions) - overall it was a fun excuse to figure out IndieWeb stuff (https://gallant.dev/posts/a-blog-reborn/ is where I explain that).
I tweaked the theme just a bit, to add the faux scanlines, URL mouseover highlight, and background green glow (trying to mimic an old CRT). But pretty much everything else is just whatever the default was.
I also make music, and have found the Fediverse to be a far more welcoming and varied place than commercial social media. Sure, I'm only getting maybe hundreds of impressions - but that's better than the dozens I got organically (without paying) on Twitter. I'm not making a living from my music - but from your profile it looks like you're not either.
Of course a site that enables making money "in simple and direct ways" would be a hit - but I'd suggest that what you're missing isn't a site but a time. Early social media was part of the general gold rush of commercializing the net - a lot of easy money was bubbling about. The Fediverse doesn't really have that gold rush, but neither will Twitter 2.0 - it'd require a paradigm shift (like the Metaverse - which I'm not particularly bullish on, but it's a possibility) for fresh investment at scale.
Anyway, depending on your creative goals, I encourage you to still check out the Fediverse. It won't be simple and direct, but (if you're not already popular / willing to pay for ads) you'll probably get more genuine listens and engagement than you will from commercial alternatives.
A straightforward blog (static site generated by Nikola), but I had fun styling it to look kinda like an old CRT. I also loaded it up with IndieWeb goodness (webmentions, pingbacks), bridged the webmentions to Twitter (will add Mastodon at some point), and added comments via GitHub. All this is described here: https://gallant.dev/posts/a-blog-reborn/
I have a 2020 model, and would concur with this post - good screen, build, thermals, lots of ram, no having to fight with drivers. Even firmware updates "just work" (apply as snaps).
I'm not trying to dismiss your perspective here, I think you have a real point about the intimacy and personal importance of modern smartphone usage. From a layperson perspective, you're absolutely correct that these deliver on the promise of "personal computer."
But to those who choose to spend more time learning and understanding them, computers are (very flexible) tools, and specifically they're tools where you get to choose the computation being performed. This is why, to me at least, (most) mobile devices simply can't be "personal computers."
Smartphones and tablets are still useful to people with that perspective - but I see them not as a computer but as an appliance. I turn it on, I turn it off, I maybe get to fiddle with a few knobs, but most of it is a black box that hopefully "just works."
And hey, I like that convenience - as long as it's not the only way I have to interact with technology.
So, it may seem pedantic, but I think it is worth distinguishing true general purpose computers from phones. They are absolutely personal - a "personal smart appliance", if you will, but not a personal computer at the end of the day.