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> Functional comparisons among devices within a category are always fair

When they have the same prerequisites, yes. But then you need to count in the time the iPhone needs to boot as well, which will probably mean you are at a similar range.

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No, because the criteria here is state transition from not-in-use/power saving to in-use/"on". The Pi Zero has no meaningful sleep state, as I lamented above, thus the only valid "off-on" state transition for the Optocam Zero is a full boot. Sure, if you were to leave it on in your bag then there's no boot time, but then you're limited to 70-80 minutes of runtime. Then you get "instant-on", but you're limited to the photos you can take within an hour off the charger, which also renders it useless as a camera, and compares unfavorably to the iPhone . If it had a sleep state then we could compare apples to apples. Since the iPhone's default "off" state is sleep, that's what counts for "turning it on".

You don’t even need to technically justify the comparison. Apples and oranges can be compared if you’re discussing how useful each is for a particular purpose or in a particular context. Oranges are nice because the skin proffers protection from soil and bumps during travel. Apples are nice because you don’t have to peel them or deal with sections — you just bite hunks off of it. If you’re not throwing it in your bag, the shortcomings of the Apple might be totally irrelevant. If you’re going on a picnic, the convenience of the Apple might be less important. Similarly, it wouldn’t make much sense to abstractly compare whether moving trucks or motorcycles are better. It makes complete sense to say one has better cargo capacity, and one is way more fun to operate.

Ok, now read the other three sentences that explain why I said that.

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