We probably will have to agree to disagree, but I’m trying to see the message I think Apple intended to sell and I think trying to sell a replacement for or an alternative to computers is a lot more in line with how they’ve always marketed iPads. The reason to look at their intended message specially is because this is the marketing gimmick that colors their PR and lobbying campaigns.
I don’t think it is severable from the manner console manufacturers operate either. They sell locked down computers with operating systems and license the software that can operate on it. In terms of functions and capabilities, they’re as Turing complete as any other machine, you just have to jump through extra hoops to run unlicensed software and they take explicit action to prevent this or make it more difficult.
The intended use is basically irrelevant. A device that’s there to operate Facebook or Spotify or a device that’s there to operate Halo or HBO is functionally still just an entertainment device. Where they significantly differ is that Apple licenses a broader array of software and Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo license mostly entertainment software (games, video apps, music apps and comic book readers). If you actually bought an Xbox to do the functions you could on a Windows PC, you would be disappointed but not because there’s some inherent Xbox property preventing this, but because Microsoft does not license Xbox software in the manner Apple does iPhone and iPad software nor allow unlicensed software to run the way it does on Windows. That’s a corporate choice, and because that corporate choice was made, it would be a bad choice to buy an Xbox for those functions or else some people might actually choose to use an Xbox to check their email or do whatever else they do on their PCs. If you think about it, $500 is not bad for a decent gaming computer that lets you get rid of your PC.
I don’t think it is severable from the manner console manufacturers operate either. They sell locked down computers with operating systems and license the software that can operate on it. In terms of functions and capabilities, they’re as Turing complete as any other machine, you just have to jump through extra hoops to run unlicensed software and they take explicit action to prevent this or make it more difficult.
The intended use is basically irrelevant. A device that’s there to operate Facebook or Spotify or a device that’s there to operate Halo or HBO is functionally still just an entertainment device. Where they significantly differ is that Apple licenses a broader array of software and Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo license mostly entertainment software (games, video apps, music apps and comic book readers). If you actually bought an Xbox to do the functions you could on a Windows PC, you would be disappointed but not because there’s some inherent Xbox property preventing this, but because Microsoft does not license Xbox software in the manner Apple does iPhone and iPad software nor allow unlicensed software to run the way it does on Windows. That’s a corporate choice, and because that corporate choice was made, it would be a bad choice to buy an Xbox for those functions or else some people might actually choose to use an Xbox to check their email or do whatever else they do on their PCs. If you think about it, $500 is not bad for a decent gaming computer that lets you get rid of your PC.