A Simple open-source Phone programmable with Arduino

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.

by your definition, my laptop is a phone too.

No, that's not the primary purpose of your laptop.

A videophone, no less!

tell that to my mom! :P

By that logic, neither are modern day smartphones.

I agree. That's why I prefer the term mobile, since I can at least pretend it means mobile computer.

Correct, it can be a phone: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phone

I'm partial to "com" - short for computer, or communicator. Hasn't caught on yet though.

Let'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.

For 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".

> 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.

I 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.

> 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".

Or it's just alphabetical

Why 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.

>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.

>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.

How 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.

Unfortunately you can't actually just pick a definition for a word based on what makes sense to you. Definitions are decided collectively by all speakers of the language, and the definition I gave is actually a fairly conservative one.

Plenty of people actually use "phone" to mean not only "cell phone" but specifically a "smart phone" and feel the need to qualify it if they mean a "dumb phone". Like it or not, that's the way the word is going.

Some people do. Others don't. Why would you get to decide which usage is blessed?

Like plenty of people talk about phone calls that only take place on zoom or meets without ever using a smartphone or dumb phone (but the call is joinable via an assigned phone number)

I don't get to decide and I'm not calling it blessed, but it's the one that is becoming dominant, like it or not.

Yes, 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.

Can I use your phone?

They are asking to make a phone call, not play angry birds.

Phones make phone calls. End of story.

In most settings that question includes an implicit "cell"! They're not asking if they can go home with you and use your landline, they're assuming you have a phone in your pocket with service.

A landline is a type of phone in the same way that a panda is a type of bear. Technically it's true, but if you say you went to see the bears at the zoo it's your own fault that people aren't picturing something with black and white splotches.