[david_frier]

I get the point, but "like a toothbrush" is a stretch. Dentists think none of us spends enough time with the toothbrush.

[djsumdog]

I was afraid this world be a "lower cost" or "more disposable" article. Phones need to be the opposite of a toothbrush in that case.

There is no reason a phone should begin to fall apart in two years. Software updates should make old devices faster, not slower. Batteries and cameras should be easily repairable/replaceable when they go bad.

More standardized parts, more open sourced drivers, more UEFI or device tree, more easily setup for 3rd party operating systems.

..and 3rd party systems (Plasma Mobile, Ubuntu Touch and such) would potentially mean more control over data, notifications, privacy, location, battery and efficiency.

So in all cases, not at all like a toothbrush.

[PascLeRasc]

Dentists are like Linux fans. You tell them you brush with some toothpaste and they'll say "that one's bad, you need to try this toothpaste or it doesn't even count".

(I'm a Linux fan too).

[pqs]

Well, we've read the article. That was the objective of the metaphor.

[gjm11]

Just as a data point, I looked at the article title and the comments here and decided not to bother reading the article.