Mobile devices these days are most definitely _not_ "instant on" devices. They are "always on" devices which fool you into thinking they are off.
Try it. Power down your phone, start the clock and measure how long it takes to boot....
....see?
Try it. Power down your phone, start the clock and measure how long it takes to boot....
....see?
Mobile devices most definitely are “instant on”. Try it. Press the power button, the device is immediately off, press it again, the device is immediately on. Nearly everyone would call that “instant-on”.
That the devices don’t really ever power down completely is merely an implementation detail, not really relevant for the scope of this discussion. (At least no warranting a statement like “most definitely not instant on”.)
At the same time, when it _does_ run out of battery - it powers up in 15 seconds. Not _quite_ instant on, but it makes a measurable difference in how you feel about powering it up to use. Ironically - you never do because it's always on. :-)
g.
So it means nothing.
What has changed is the UI. People are now often encouraged to send their devices to sleep, that’s not really the case with even current laptops. Truly powering down is an equal citizen on desktop operating system instead of some weird function only nerds would use (like it is on smartphones).
When it comes to a laptop you can't necessarily leave it and come back, you have to be cognizant of how long it's been standing by or hibernating or whatnot.