> so assuming internet penetration implies computer literacy is a fallacy, as most households globally instead use a cellphone as their primary computing device

I was using computer literacy as a stand-in for technical literacy.

> Steve Jobs was correct that the smartphone user experience is the best experience for non-technical users.

We’re speaking about this in retrospect; mass-market smartphones were still in their infancy when the project launched.

> Even Bill Gates called them out for this when they were trying to fundraise in the early 2000s

Gates doesn’t mention anything about smartphones in this article.