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| BMaker11 said: I could, then, make the argument, that you don't use a phone to play Angry Birds, Angry Birds is played on the phone. One can play Angry Birds without a phone (there's a browser version, for example, just as parties can be thrown in apartments, your work office, etc). But if we go by the definition of something being a toy at one point and otherwise in another, and then also say a toy is anything that's used for entertainment, then we have to agree that a game console is, then, both a toy and not a toy. Because its sole purpose isn't just gaming/entertainment. Like I said, they can be used to develop games by people just like you and me, and for many people, that's a job. Sure, you may love the job and be entertained by it but I love my work as well, and I wouldn't call what I do a "play thing". They can web browse, PS3 helped cancer research, when PS3 had Linux it was used as PC, Kinect allows surgeons to access medical imagery, etc. Sure, we aren't surgeons, so that example doesn't apply to us. But even still, we use consoles for purposes other than entertainment all the same. So, can we agree on that, then? That gaming consoles are "a toy at one point and otherwise at a different point". I'm willing to concede that. I'm getting the impression from others in this thread that they are strictly toys. |
The phone is what is being used to play angry birds. If there is no phone/computing device you can't play angry birds. I can have a party without any man-made structure. I can have a party in a field, for example.
And yes, I agree that if a PS3 is only being used to browse the internet for say academic purposes, or if it is being used to help cure cancer then it isn't being used as a toy at those moments. But if you also use the PS3 to play games, or browse the internet for fun then it is a toy. It is only when you don't use it to do these (and other) things that it can be disqualified as a toy.
I have a gaming PC. I built it mostly for gaming, but I also use it for schoolwork and scientific computing. It is both a toy, and a means of production. If I stopped using it for gaming, then it would only be a means of production. If I stopped using it for schoolwork/scientific computing then it would only be a toy. Whether or not something is a toy depends on the binary of whether or not it is used for recreational purposes. If yes, then yes. If no, then no. This says nothing about its other non-recreational functions though.
