I looked at that ad you posted earlier and refrained from commenting at the time, but if you take the ad at face value, Apple is claiming that iPads are not computers, or at least not the general purpose ones that culturally we refer to as computers (desktops, notebooks) and do this in both the slogan (“your next computer is not a computer”) and by demonstration, inviting the user to think of iPads as something else. It’s not an ad for tablet computers, it’s an ad for iPads.
Technically, iPhones and iPads are absolutely computers. General purpose computers. In fact arguably they are even more general purpose because you can easily and non-trivially manipulate them in 3D space in ways you probably wouldn’t even manipulate a notebook computer, which makes the inclusion of various sensors in the body of the device more useful to a broader array of applications. I will absolutely use my phone as a wallet in the way I never would a MacBook Pro. Apple has absolutely never marketed them as general purpose computers though even though I think you and I can agree that’s exactly what they are. Duplicitous? I think so, but it’s also the exact same strategy that game consoles benefit from today and in either case I think both Apple and game console makers are at the moment on solid legal footing.
We'll have to agree to disagree. This ad to me looked just like the "Mac VS PC" ads, where Apple wanted to convey to you that their personal computers weren't "PCs", but something else, something better. But, they very clearly were advertising the product as a replacement computer.
They want people shopping for iPads, not tablet computers. I'll grant you that, but that's just a marketing gimmick as far as I can tell. This ad to me says "don't bother with another laptop because the iPad can do the same stuff, but better (and you might look really cool using it)." It's a marketing campaign, so it's going to resonate with people differently.
I still don't know anyone that went out and purchased an Xbox to replace their laptops, but I know plenty of people that have done so with iPads. And they're checking email, commenting on Facebook, taking pictures, editing video, surfing the web, managing todos, making video calls, watching video streams, playing games, and doing many other activities that they used to on a laptop or desktop, while Xbox users play video games, maybe consume media, and possibly deal with being called racist names on a voice chat.
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.
Technically, iPhones and iPads are absolutely computers. General purpose computers. In fact arguably they are even more general purpose because you can easily and non-trivially manipulate them in 3D space in ways you probably wouldn’t even manipulate a notebook computer, which makes the inclusion of various sensors in the body of the device more useful to a broader array of applications. I will absolutely use my phone as a wallet in the way I never would a MacBook Pro. Apple has absolutely never marketed them as general purpose computers though even though I think you and I can agree that’s exactly what they are. Duplicitous? I think so, but it’s also the exact same strategy that game consoles benefit from today and in either case I think both Apple and game console makers are at the moment on solid legal footing.