Can you tell what it is yet? (It's a poll!)

[andrewducker]

Assuming a group of touchscreen devices, each of which is capable of making phone calls, surfing the web, etc., of the following sizes, how would you describe them?

[Poll #1798020]

Comments

[andrewducker]

Context:
http://www.paulgraham.com/tablets.html

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I used to have (still have, in fact, if anyone would like to make me an offer) a Nokia 770 which was neither fish nor fowl in a big way. That was 4.13 but with bezels. I think I've said 4.3 is a phone but I'm not sure I believe that. It would have to be 4.3 edge to edge I think to be a phone.

[andrewducker]

4.3" is the Desire HD, which now I've played with one I'd be happy to use as a phone.
4.7" is the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
5.3" is the Samsung Galaxy Note, which is big enough to come with a stylus so you can use it to take notes on!

I'm definitely going to have to play with a Galaxy Nexus directly before deciding if it's going to fit in my pockets ok.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

No access to a measuring device so I'll go with "would I hold it up to my ear to make a phone call with it?" if so -> phone, if not -> not phone :)

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Likewise. I can't reliably picture any of those sizes.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

That is probably the best answer.

If you're making a phone call with it and you're not holding it up to your ear then either

a] you're making a handsfree call on your phone and thus are a bit of a dick and are probably annoying everyone else nearby because people can't make handsfree calls without shouting generally
or
b] you're making a handsfree call on your tablet and thus are a bit of a dick as above and probably a poser too.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Rule of thumb: If it can surf the web then it is a computer.

[andrewducker]

Absolutely.

But does that mean it is not a phone?

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

Simple rule of thumb: If it's smaller than the average penis it's a phone. If it's penis sized or larger it's a tablet.

[andrewducker]

Now there's a heuristic I can stand behind!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It makes phone calls and runs a phone OS? It's a fucking phone.

The polycom in the conference room with the crazy extendable microphones and stuff is huge, but it's a phone. A SPEAKERPHONE, but a phone.

(My phone is also a computer that fits in my pocket - but it's a phone.)

[andrewducker]

My inner pedant would like you to define "phone OS".

Because if it's "it runs on a phone" then we have a nicely circular definition :->

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

I have a 7" tablet that can accept a SIM card. I would never call it a phone as I'd never hold it up to my head... if you use this thing to make calls you're assumed to be using Bluetooth or the speakerphone settings.

I could've ordered the 5" version, but I wanted the bigger screen because I wanted to run Windows 7, and (other than Windows Phone) Windows gets a bit squinty on a 5" screen. (Truly, I wonder at how folks coped with the old OQO.) I'd still call that version a tablet, though, even though it's not much bigger than the larger smartphones.

-- Steve's not certain how to draw the line by screen-size alone; one way he differentiates is whether the processor has x86 pedigree or a cell pedigree, but that's not a particularly good sort either.

[naath.livejournal.com]

If it makes phone calls using the phone network then it is a phone; I don't care what size/shape it is (but if it's inconvenient for me to use to make phone calls on I won't buy it). If however it only has data connections it is not a phone (even if you can skype/similar on it).

Inches confuse me slightly more than centimetres do

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

Phones:
6 cm
9 cm
11 cm
12 cm
13 cm

Tablets:
18 cm
20 cm
26 cm

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

Below 3.5" - iPod
3.5" - iPhone
10" - iPad
everything else - Android bullshit

</helpfulcomment>

I should probably make it clear that I am in fact trolling and am completely uninterested in having a painful fanboy argument over the above statements XD

[andrewducker]

Oh yes. I took it as 'funny'. If I didn't know you I might wonder if it was a case of Poe's law, but thankfully I do :->

[princealbert.livejournal.com]

your metric is as flawed as most Apple based logic:
ipod touch, 3.5" with no phone hardware.

Nice try, oh and btw you forgot the Newton.

[drplokta]

Size is irrelevant. If it makes phone calls, it's a phone, even if it's the size of the Tardis. If it doesn't make phone calls, it's a tablet, even if it's the size of an iPod Touch.

[andrewducker]

Do said phone calls have to be over the traditional phone network? Or can they work through alternative means?

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

my not-terribly-informed opinion:

if the device ships with the ability to make phone calls, as in with the assumption that you will make phone calls, it's a phone.

if the device can be set up to make calls, but is not clearly intended for that purpose [as in, does not come pre-equipped with that ability] it isn't a phone.

I say this because the iPhone is only a phone when you actually use it as a phone. Otherwise it's whatever you're using it to do. I don't think the iPad has a dedicated phone app, does it?

I've no idea how Android works having not used it

[andrewducker]

Android phones have a phone app. Android tablets don't. Well, I assume they don't. Possibly the ones with SIM cards do.

[laplor.livejournal.com]

I guess my threshold is the point where the device is big enough that it takes up the whole palm or more.

[tysolna]

To me, a tablet is something pharmaceutical.

I also like to eat blackberries.

[ipslore.livejournal.com]

They're all jeejahs.