I’m sorry, Mike, I’m afraid I can’t understand that
Cidu Bill on Jun 17th 2008
Okay, so it’s the dialog between Dave Bowman and HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But what’s you know, the joke here?
Filed in 2001, Bill Bickel, CIDU, Mike Peters, Mother Goose, comic strips, comics, humor, iPod | 18 responses so far
Arthur Jun 17th 2008 at 12:11 am 1
I don’t own an ipod, but I remembered hearing something about the battery. Sure enough, a web search reveals that Apple will not give you instructions on how to replace the battery. Instead, they’ll charge you big bucks to do it for you.
marie Jun 17th 2008 at 12:12 am 2
I think the “joke” is that you can’t replace the battery in an iPod yourself; you have to send it to the manufacturer, and they’ll send a replacement iPod. That’s right, replacement iPod, not replacement battery. I guess the general public is just too dumb to replace a battery in a fancy-shmancy gadget like an MP3 player.
Uh, come to think of it, most people are too stupid to replace a battery. Maybe Apple has a point…
S.P. Charles Jun 17th 2008 at 12:24 am 3
But how does the 2001 reference fit in?
rabrab Jun 17th 2008 at 12:57 am 4
Technology gone horribly awry perhaps?
PeterW Jun 17th 2008 at 01:17 am 5
It’s a pun, plain and simple.
PeterW Jun 17th 2008 at 01:17 am 6
albeit a poor pun.
Ladybird Jun 17th 2008 at 01:20 am 7
As a reluctant-but-addicted iPod owner AND a big 2001 fan, I laughed harder and harder as this strip progressed. I know, I know… I feel very dirty laughing at a Mike Peters strip, but the analogy between Apple and Hal cracked me up (”Can you open my iPod door, Hal?”). I guess this strip makes me giggle because Apple thinks a mere human is too stupid to change a battery - even if that human is smart-enough to buy an Apple product and the object in question is basically a fancy Walkman.
Elliott Jun 17th 2008 at 06:17 am 8
Well the truth is that it takes a man and a boy a day and a half to open an iPod without screwing up the case, and Uncle Apple is absolutely no help in the matter. So it’s apt, but not particularly funny.
Catlover Jun 17th 2008 at 07:08 am 9
Kubrick calls Apple tech support?
1) Tech support people are portrayed as inscrutable, resolute and unbending as Hal (I am one from a past life) - remember Hal is just one letter away from I- B- M
2) iPod door sounds like “pod bay door” (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2UFXQuT0PU)
3) The iPod is not user servicable
Ergo, our lovable main character pines for an even less reliable and ungainly audio device.
I give it a “meh”. Perhaps if they honed in on the tech support person’s red eye …
“Daisy, Daisy …”
Powers Jun 17th 2008 at 07:28 am 10
I believe one of the keys to the iPod’s small size is its lack of user serviceability. Obviously the consumer public decided the tradeoff was worth it.
Carl Jun 17th 2008 at 07:53 am 11
Powers–for a group that doesn’t include me. I keep my personal audio on my BlackBerry, which has a replaceable battery, plus, you know, can do more than play music and video.
Neddo Jun 17th 2008 at 09:02 am 12
Is “Hal” a nickname for “Harold”? I never knew that.
src Jun 17th 2008 at 11:34 am 13
I felt that the 8th panel delivered the punch - that’s the way Steve Jobs feels about Apple products. Mere mortal consumers shouldn’t meddle in the affairs of the Gods.
The fact that he was able to craft a decent juxtaposition between 2001 and tech support dialog was just a bonus chuckle.
Scott Jun 17th 2008 at 12:16 pm 14
I laughed also, but the last panel almost killed the joke, since that was from another, slightly later, scene, and the caller did nothing to cause Hal’s mind to go.
This is one reason I avoid Apple products - that and them cutting prices randomly.
BTW, it was not intended for HAL and IBM to be one letter apart.
Dave Van Domelen Jun 17th 2008 at 03:44 pm 15
See also many of the recent Sunday strips of Pearls Before Swine. There’s no “punch line” outside of being able to set up the pun. The problem with this strip is that it peaks early…it should have been a three panel daily ending on “Hal, open the iPod door”.
Adjusting Jun 17th 2008 at 05:41 pm 16
Cutting prices is a bad thing?
eeyore19 Jun 17th 2008 at 08:51 pm 17
I used to have a T-shirt with the HAL9000 logo on the front and HAL’s shut-down dialogue on the back (”Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave. I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it.”).
I guess any problems customers encounter with their iPods can only be attributable to human error.
Rayal Jun 17th 2008 at 11:16 pm 18
Good play on 2001 and the misconception that you can not replace the battery in an iPod.
There is a certain amount of Apple bashing on the internet.
I replaced mine in ten minutes after getting a battery kit from an online retailer that came with instructions and a small plastic screwdriver like tool that allowed you to crack the case open without marring the surfaces.
Care was needed to not rip the tiny little wires. Move the hard disk, unplug the battery insert new battery put everthing back in place (carefully) and pop the case back together. Not for the timid but it can be done.
Total cost about $15.00