I want a word that accurately covers tablets, phones, desktop PCs & Macs, laptop PCs & Macs, smart watches, smart glasses, smart fridges, smart socks (watch this space...) and any future kind of device.
Obviously because I used "device" in the question and the sentence above, you might wonder why I don't want to use that word. I feel to users, they don't consider their desktop PC or Mac a "device", and as much as some might consider desktop machines as more and more irrelevant, a great many millions of people still sit in offices getting distracted by (hopefully) my web app in an office with either new or antiquated desktops. Plus I'm writing this from a desktop so I'm biased....
My opinion on the top three:
Device
I don't think users think of desktop machines as something as small sounding as a "device"
Machine
I don't think users think of their phones as something as grand as a "machine"
Computer
I don't think users are browsing my web site and using my app from 1998, and they certainly don't think of phones and tablets as a "computer"
The best I can think of (without having the UI detect what kind of device is actually being used) is to say "your device or computer".
Can anyone do any better?
Edit
As requested, a few example sentences being:
- Please restart your device
- This application is not compatible with your device
Edit 2
A good example of ambiguity: Surface Pro 4, running Windows 10. I can call this a "device", of course. But how do I know it's not just a normal desktop? I could put a catch in for vendor specific products, but that's going to become rather cumbersome to maintain. A good, universal word is essential.
I am tempted to just use "device" everywhere, but it hurts my cotton soft feelings on desktops :(