@JC - Just a few additions to the discussion, not meant as an argument...
"...something resembles another thing if it has even a small fraction of the functionality..."
Actually dictionary.com's #3 of 5 definitions for 'semblance' is "the slightest appearance or trace". So by using that word, the bar is set pretty low. I mean consider cellphones from 10 - 15 years ago. They went out of range much more easily than we are used to now, does that mean they are retroactively NOT phones ?
Likewise for your landline. Most of the ones I've seen go out of range within 20 feet (or however long the cord is). Is your home phone also NOT a phone ?
That's the small scale, think about the LARGE scale as well. My PHS phone that I used throughout Japan for over a year is nothing more than a 2mp digicam now that I'm back in the US. But I've made wired+wifi VOIP calls in the US, Taiwan, Korea and Japan on my Ipaq 2215. So which one is the phone ?
It really comes down to usage patterns I guess. Within a wifi+broadband enabled house built in an area with cellular service a landline, cell phone,and VOIP enabled PDA can function almost identically as well as phones. But outside that house, choosing one IS give and take...
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@JC - Just a few additions to the discussion, not meant as an argument...
"...something resembles another thing if it has even a small fraction of the functionality..."
Actually dictionary.com's #3 of 5 definitions for 'semblance' is "the slightest appearance or trace". So by using that word, the bar is set pretty low. I mean consider cellphones from 10 - 15 years ago. They went out of range much more easily than we are used to now, does that mean they are retroactively NOT phones ?
Likewise for your landline. Most of the ones I've seen go out of range within 20 feet (or however long the cord is). Is your home phone also NOT a phone ?
That's the small scale, think about the LARGE scale as well. My PHS phone that I used throughout Japan for over a year is nothing more than a 2mp digicam now that I'm back in the US. But I've made wired+wifi VOIP calls in the US, Taiwan, Korea and Japan on my Ipaq 2215. So which one is the phone ?
It really comes down to usage patterns I guess. Within a wifi+broadband enabled house built in an area with cellular service a landline, cell phone,and VOIP enabled PDA can function almost identically as well as phones. But outside that house, choosing one IS give and take...
Just my perspective...