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points by jonathanstrange 18 hours ago | 0 comments

People keep saying that but I have never met anyone who doesn't own a PC or laptop.

Do you work in tech by chance? I work in an entirely non-technical field (to the point we barely use email), and I have several coworkers whose only “computer” is their phone or a tablet.

[–] jonathanstrange 14 hours ago

I guess the answer is Yes now but I used to work as a philosopher at university until recently. I literally never met a person, both inside and outside of professional settings, who owns a smart phone but doesn't own a computer. (There were, of course, plenty of people in the 1990s who owned neither a mobile phone nor a computer.) Most of the people I know use laptops, though, it has definitely shifted from PCs to laptops.

I guess it's because I used to work in a writing-based profession and mostly know academics.

[–] KellyCriterion 15 hours ago

I know youngsters who dont even have an email address. Though, this may change if they have to enter the workforce.

Lot of people using their office-notebooks at home, even if its not allowed. Most people out of tech do not have big hardware at home anymore.

[–] teirce 17 hours ago

A smartphone is the main / only 'computer' for a lot more people than you think.

This is complete conjecture on my part, but I bet if you're late 20s - early 40s, you probably have some form of pc/laptop laying around. But people 50+ (gen x / gen boomer), a phone is likely all you use or own. My mother, aunt, et. al operate totally through their phones. The same is true for my pre-teen, teenage cousins or cousins children (ipad generation).