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A black box view is am empirical model which does not tell you how a transistor works, only what it does. I am sure they are useful, but not for understanding how a transistor works. I do agree with you on a lot of things, But not on whether a lone BJT is anything other than a transconductance amplifier.
Okay, I think I understand the crux of our discussion differences. We're not really discussing the same thing and thus (I think) have no basic disagreement.
My discussion relates to the best way to do circuit design with the BJT and you are mainly concerned with the purity of understanding of how it "works". But how a transistor works as a transconductance device under
small signal conditions is not the same as how it appears to
practically behave under
large signal conditions. Those two modes of operation are quite different, (I trust you understand the differences) and can't be readily lumped together from a circuit design perspective.
The black-box current-controlled current-output model (especially with a diode added internally to model the base-emitter voltage/current relation) shows the external behavior of the device with sufficient accuracy to be very useful for large signal circuit design, and thus that model is invariably used for such design.
Trying to use the transconductance model for that would be very awkward and difficult, rather like a square-peg in a round hole.
I know you will continue on your endless Quixote journey to inform the unwashed of how a BJT
really works, but please keep that separate from the practical aspects of designing with that transistor type in large signal applications, where the current-controlled current-source model is very useful and the transconductance model is not.
To do otherwise is to confuse the issue for those of limited knowledge (many on these forums) who are trying to do large signal design with BJTs. And (call me optimistic) I trust your posts are intended to help those forum members.
The transconductance model is appropriate and very useful, of course, for small signal design.
Cheers