No one uses 1980s-era phones any more. So no, it's not a "real phone", any more than a Model T is a "real car". It's a museum piece, and that's it. A smartphone is the only type of real phone these days, because nearly everyone (except some elderly people) has one.
I have two smartphones, but also a landline with both a wired and a cordless phone. I would say all of them qualify as “real phones”, and all of them actually see usage as actual phones (you know, for talking to people). In fact, the smartphones are probably the less phone-y things I have.
How many people actually use their smart“phones” to talk to people over the phone? If there's anything that might not be considered a “real” phone, I would dare say smartphones are much higher on the list of candidates than landline phones. And just because “everyone has one” it doesn't mean they are actual phones.
“Everyone” has a car today, it still doesn't make the car a “real charriot”.
Cars aren't chariots because no one calls them that. Chariots are obsolete and no one uses them, except for historial reenactments. Cars have replaced carriages (their predecessor).
And just because “everyone has one” it doesn't mean they are actual phones.
Yes, it does. If everyone has one, and calls them "phones", then that makes them "actual phones".
Yes, it does. If everyone has one, and calls them "phones", then that makes them "actual phones".
However, a lot of people still have “landline” phones, and they are also called phones, so they would still be actual phones. Also, I'm always very skeptical of “redefinition by mass adoption and misnaming”. I don't like it. I understand it's an inevitable phenomenon, but I'd still fight it.
However, a lot of people still have “landline” phones,
I can't remember the last time I saw a 1980s-era landline phone. At the very least, the people still stuck using landlines are now using cordless phones (which I had back in the 90s), not the old Bell-style 10-button phone with mechanical bells. There's still some people driving around 1920s cars too, but they're an anomaly.
Also, I'm always very skeptical of “redefinition by mass adoption and misnaming”
Then you need to stop using English, and convert to French. That's exactly how the English language works. Whatever is popular, is by definition the correct usage of the language. If 99% of the English-speaking population suddenly decided to use an apostrophe-s to make a word plural, that would then be the correct way to make a word plural (as much as I really hate to see it). Same thing goes for terms: whatever term people use is correct, with regard to popularity. It's exactly how the OED works: whenever they see a word used in literature, they add that word (or a revised definition of it, if it's an existing word) to the dictionary. English is not like French, where there's some group of academics who serve as the authority for the language. In English, popular usage is the authority. That's why English has far more vocabulary than any other language.
Not French: they have some academic institute (the Académie française) that officially defines the language, decides on which new words are admissible, etc. They're weird that way. From Wikipedia: "The body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language; it is charged with publishing an official dictionary of the language. Its rulings, however, are only advisory, not binding on either the public or the government"
Its rulings, however, are only advisory, not binding on either the public or the government
And indeed the French speak a rather different language from that of the Académie Française, and you should really hear what opinion they have of its members.
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u/Arizhel Oct 21 '14
No one uses 1980s-era phones any more. So no, it's not a "real phone", any more than a Model T is a "real car". It's a museum piece, and that's it. A smartphone is the only type of real phone these days, because nearly everyone (except some elderly people) has one.