Difference between pocket computer and programmable calculator?

[Jeff_Birt]

(09-07-2022 07:45 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  The 41cx manual calls it a computer, which seems reasonable since it has string-handling capability, a file system, and text editor, and with HP-IL it has the ability to interface to lots of things at once (not just consumer things like printer and mass storage, but lab instrumentation), and with other modules it has boolean functions, base conversions, an assembler, and a mile-long list of other things not found in mere programmable calculators.

So string handling, file system, interfacing, make it a computer? A TI-84 does most of these things too but most folks would not call it a computer. Perhaps it is all semantics? I do 'feel' there is a difference but it is not clear what delineates one from the other.

For example: A PC motherboard in a heavy steel box connected to a piece of machinery is an industrial controller. The same motherboard in a thin sheet metal box on your desk is a computer. Is it the intended use case?