really? my phone is useful as a tool to: communicate with friends and family, do work via writing, reading, checking metrics, watching videos, and 10000 other things.

and i live in vim on a computer. this tech-centric “i need a terminal and full access to the shell for it to have any worth” is pretty juvenile. phones are real tools for millions of people— the greatest technological innovation of the century.

From a dictionary, on the noun "tool": "something (such as an instrument or apparatus) used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of a vocation or profession"

I was likening it to something like a screwdriver. I often describe what we do as making tools for others to live their lives and spread culture and civilization, so I understand your sentiment (although I think you are grandstanding a little). My comment, however, was personal and about what makes something a tool for me.

I'm also a fan of what phones do for people, and software in general; one of my fondest times working in software was developing communication/chat software and knowing a number of people who met on it and became partners for life.