The (real?) 3 kinds of fabrial

[in Truth,watcher of tv he/him]

The coppermind article lists three categories of fabrial (as in-world artifabrians see it): altering, pairing and warning; which doesn't account for ancient fabrials or even most of the modern ones. This seems erroneous to me. I see these instead as sub-categories which fit into two different categories of fabrial, with surge fabrials being the third kind. I'll explain; and please, let me know what you think.

First there are the ancient/Surge fabrials, which are manifested sapient spren (as far as I understand) and replicate the Knight Radiant powers. I see them as pseudo-fabrials because although they look like a technological device, I think they are just an expression of magic (possibly Willshapers and/or Bondsmiths but that's another theory).

Second there are the common/modern fabrials, which use metals to induce a spren captured in a gem to interact with its concept (flame, pain, etc.). What they affect is determined by the type of spren, possibly modified by the type of gem, and the effect is determined by the metal. The known types so far are altering, warning and attractor fabrials. I think of them as 'true' fabrials since they require an artificial mechanism beyond the spren-in-a-gem to function.

Third is the new category of fabrial I am proposing (not sure what to call them, spren fabrial maybe?) which for now only includes pairing fabrials and fabrial clocks. They are halfway between the other two categories, relying on a lesser spren trapped in a gem but producing an effect related to Surges the spren is linked to without needing metals. The pairing and clock fabrials both use a platespren (flamespren haven't been confirmed but almost certainly are) so they have an inherent relationship with two Surges through the corresponding Order. The Surges in these fabrials are more conceptual/Cognitive expressions, and there seems to be an activating one and an effect one: flamespren in conjoiners will move sympathetically (Abrasion) when they are split in half (Division), logicspren in clocks will change their brightness (Transformation) regularly when there is a constant change in the available Stormlight (changing context, Transportation). The type of gemstone used also seems to relate to the Surgebinding table, with ruby having a standard effect for flamespren (both associated with Dustbringers) but an amethyst inverting the effect (being linked with Willshapers, opposite ruby); clocks use smokestone (opposite Elsecallers) and presumably zircon is best for capturing logicspren but the inverted version of a clock is too obscure to have been discovered yet, perhaps it works as a logic gate of some kind.
I'm very curious what other platespren would do in these fabrials.

[offer]

This is a very nice observation - the "causin spren" do seem to do more complex things in a fabrial than other lower spren.

This does not mean the categorization in the AA is wrong - this a just another division into categories based on use which is probably important to most Rosharans who want to use fabrials, while yours is based more on the basic principals behind the device which is the categorization important for "scienties".

[in Truth,watcher of tv he/him]

I mean sure, I wasn’t contradicting, just pointing out an unrecognised distinction.

Although, the AA is written by one of those in-world “scienties”.