What makes a mod a "mechanical" mod?

[440BB]

If there are wires inside that have a covering which can wear through or be cut, it's not a mechanical mod in my thinking.

 

[USinchains]

I think another problem is the popularity of VV devices. Before they came around it was really cut and dry, what was mechanical and what was a battery mod. A VV device was just another type of nonmechanical battery mod. Now that so many have exploded onto the scene, and newcomers are instantly guided to VV devices, it seems like their popularity has put everything else without a chip into the mechanical category. When that happens it's really hard for those newcomers to realize the difference between a bolt and a GG. I left the online scene for a few years, and when I came back the VV offering was huge and there was this whole mess about what was mechanical on what was not, so I can only assume that it's the new VV owners that are messing up the definition by throwing everything else unlike what they own into the mechanical category. It almost seems like some of them are in a competition to have the best end-all be-all PV with no comparisons.