I think the universality hides the fact that these are not really made to stay in the flow of life but to be cute and shiny in themselves, capturing your attention instead of being the shortest path on providing what you need to keep going. Then there's the instability of platform (plethora of messaging apps..), the usual ad infestation (google maps now shows a lot of local shop whether you asked for it or not) etc etc. Old devices had to be tailored and became a side element in your life.

Even removing entertainment wouldn’t solve the problem because these devices have been engineered to be ad delivery platforms. You would have to ban advertising on the device.