Originally Posted by
noisebeam
Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
GPS is a sensor. If you don’t have any sensors, the phone is largely useless except as a phone.
GPS is a receiver. Sensors convert physical input into electrical.
Pretty much, "everything" is or uses a sensor.
Clearly, the discussion was concerning the need for
external sensors.
He either knows this (
like everybody else) and is trolling or is just obtuse. In any case, he's way out in the weeds. I'd recommend not following him there.
It's silly of him to suggest that people didn't realize smartphones didn't use a GPS receiver.
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"Sensor" is usually used to indicate something that measures a fairly-basic physical change (which is what you basically said).
A GPS receiver is doing more than mere "sensing". So, referring to a GPS receiver as a "sensor" is imprecise (sloppy).
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensor
a device that responds to a physical stimulus (such as heat, light, sound, pressure, magnetism, or a particular motion) and transmits a resulting impulse (as for measurement or operating a control)