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Yes but that's not an SBC, that's a laptop. I don't understand who would call that an "SBC". I guess technically any laptop that's only 1 PCB is an SBC, but that still doesn't answer the original question of SBC -> Laptop.


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They are intentionally misusing the lingo to emphasize the fact that guts of a laptop are basically a single board computer. It is a bit of rhetorical flair.

in more discussion with them, that turns out to not be the case. It was a misunderstanding of what an SBC is.

I agree. If I order an SBC, I expect to be buying a minimum of exactly one bare PCB.

If I'm feeling fancy, I'll add a power supply and a housing to that order -- and maybe a keyboard, a mouse, a display, and/or some storage or other accessories. But it's still rooted as a singular PCB, and that Single Board Computer can be made to do useful work with a minimum of help.

This is profoundly distinct from when I order a laptop, wherein: I'm absolutely not buying a bare PCB. My laptop is, at minimum, absolutely going to include a screen, a keyboard, a pointer, a battery, a power supply, and a housing to tie it all together.

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If a laptop is an SBC, then a Playstation 5 is an SBC. A pocket supercomputer and an iPad are both SBCs. ONVIF camera? VoIP desk phone? SBC. Asus router? SBC. Wifi-connected light bulb? SBC!

That's madness.

If I'm buying a laptop, then I'm buying a laptop. This laptop may or may not contain an SBC, but it's primarily a laptop. We have a term for these things: It is "laptop."

If I'm buying a light bulb, then I'm buying a light bulb. This light bulb may or may not contain an SBC, but it's primarily a light bulb.

And if I'm buying an SBC, then I'm not implicitly buying anything more than a single-board computer. It is primarily an SBC. (We have a term for these things, too: It is "SBC.")

This kind of excessive and deliberate ambiguation is as dumb as the term "loosing" was ten years ago, and it needs to stop.


TIL 50" smart TVs are SBCs.

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