That seems like a really flimsy distinction. I would've assumed the software on planes and MRI machines gets updated.

For that matter, I don't really consider updating my iPhone "normal use" though I'm pretty sure it doesn't get an exception given his remarks about "iThings".

Do you consider updating the apps installed on your iPhone to be a part of "normal use"?

That happens automatically, so don't think much about it. Back when you had to do it manually, I almost never did.

Now, I don't consider updates to be abnormal, but neither is it something I'd ever list in response to "how do you normally use your phone?"

Or my kindle. I update the software on that far less frequently.

So, software upgrades are such a normal part of the day-to-day operation of an iPhone that they happen automatically.

Thus, the iPhone is very much a computer.

Contrast this with -say- most computer monitors. There is software running in them, but -in (almost?) every case- upgrading that software requires either gaining access to programming ports inside the monitor and performing an arcane ritual that might involve specialized hardware or physically swapping out chips.

The bigger issue for planes and MRI machines is that they're not his devices, and are not being set up specifically for him.