Comment by ChuckMcM

I know it feels like a semantic quibble. Consider that you can boot and run Linux on the processor that powers a Seagate hard drive. You can even run a c compiler and develop new code on it. But when you pull one from its protective wrapping after you bought it from a distributor, it isn't a "computer", it's a storage device (dedicated function, aka an appliance for storing data), that you can plug into a general purpose computer, or into a smart television, or into a DVR, Etc.

Similarly, for a long time, the CPU in my washing machine (a Z80) was the same processor that my first computer with disk drives had (a Cromemco System 3, aka a "business computer" which ran CP/M) but it was intentionally hobbled to just run the display, run some timed processes, and read various sensors.

Building "purpose built systems" that happen to have a computer processor inside of them because it is cheaper or more efficient to implement their functions in code, are what pretty much everyone considers "appliances." Sometimes obviously so, as in washing machines, and sometimes not so obviously when you can buy "apps", or "personality modules", or "game cartridges" for them to make them do something useful given the constraints of the fixed I/O they have.

But if you have a computer system that is intentionally hobbled to a fixed set of things, then for me, it's an appliance and certainly not a general purpose computer.