But hark! What do I see on my laptop/desktop PC, but a Cisco softphone! Surely, this is MORE than just a phone! It MUST be a "phone' able to run Windows, Linux, Ubuntu and many other computer OS's!

Seriously, you should stop TRYING to convince anyone that any piece of hardware is either a phone or a computer (or trying to limit them to ANY particular concept anyway). It's more about function than form--if you use it as a phone, it's a phone. If you use it as a computer, it's a computer. Despite how it's advertised (which is the great irony with Nokia constantly trying to convince us that this N900 thing is a computer-first... I continue to see it as ALSO a phone, a terrible one... but still a phone. Great computer, but lousy phone.) The marketing just makes it feel like Nokia lacks confidence in it own product's capability, but for good reason. (Didn't have to be, mind you--the hardware was fine if you wanted a phone, incredibly and uselessly expensive if you didn't.)

I like to bring my full size laptop with me everywhere and fire up a copy of Gizmo or Cisco's IP softphone and put on my podcasting headset, then they be all like WTF! I say Yep. end of discussion.