Comment Re:Terminology (Score 1) 291
But, what is a television set? This can be built on two questions, at what point does a device become a television and how much can one remove before the device stops being a television.
The average television set on the market today can receive analog signals, digital broadcasts from over the air transmitters and from external sources such as cable, DVD players, Bluray players, camcorders and gaming devices.
With a relatively small amount of added equipment, namely a tuner card and opensource software, my computer screen can do all of the above. To muddle the lines even further, my tele is a Panasonic, and is built off GNU software. Further still, my girlfriend worked out that YouTube videos could be watched on the television set using the Nintendo Wii's wireless connection.
Etymologically, the word television hasn't evolved in decades to cover any of the above scenarios. It still represents a device with a tuner, though the tuner is quickly becoming the least important part of the modern tele.
Cheers.