Comics I Don’t Understand

Amazing Brew

Cidu Bill on Jan 28th 2009

Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Internet, John Deering, Strange Brew, comic strips, comics, humor, scientists | 23 responses so far

23 Responses to “Amazing Brew”

Annie Benson Jan 28th 2009 at 12:16 am 1

Maybe the joke is that for all the new futuristic things that have happened in the past 30 years, someone visiting back then would focus on how amazing this thing called the internet is? Not to sure, because I sorta think that maybe this is one of the more impressive things we’ve come up with in the past three decades. Well, that and the… ok, nothing else. My life revolves around the internet, and the thought is depressing me now.
assdad Jan 28th 2009 at 12:37 am 2

A.R.P.A. Net, the original version of the internet, was used in the ’70s, by the military.

Everything is much better than in the 1970’s. 30 years of advncements have given us video games, personal computers, cable, many drugs that are far more effective against diseases like cancer, diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and others. A time traveller, forced to return to the 1970s from the present, would, certainly, be disgusted by his time.
Elyrest Jan 28th 2009 at 12:48 am 3

I took the joke to be that this scientist goes through a time portal to the future and the only thing the stupid idiot looks at is the INTERNET! Doesn’t look around at anything else.
Rainey Jan 28th 2009 at 12:58 am 4

This is obviously a commentary on internet addiction. Some people do nothing but surf the net and would still do so if they time traveled to the future.
BlueRaja Jan 28th 2009 at 01:04 am 5

I lol’ed - he goes into the future, and the only thing he comments on when he gets back is the Internet.

On a more serious note, 30 years ago the Internet was non-existent, and look at it today. Can you imagine what it’ll be like in 30 more years? I’d probably have the same reaction he does
Mitch4 Jan 28th 2009 at 01:18 am 6

I remember when a high-speed tape drive looked like the cabinet device in the right of the panel.
Yaniv Jan 28th 2009 at 03:00 am 7

I’m a little confused as to why he’s reporting to Stalin and Lenin… Is some sort of commentary on the cold war? o.O
Conor Jan 28th 2009 at 03:41 am 8

I figured that since this a hypothetical situation in which you would think that this apparent “time portal” would be considered the greatest invention of all time,the man is more impressed with the internet of the present day. Truly, the internet shall reign the true source of entertainment for all eternity.
Mario Jan 28th 2009 at 05:22 am 9

I agree with Conor. I think the joke is that he invented a time machine and walks away impressed with the internet. I could also imagine that the man subsequently abandoned his time machine to focus on the internet full-time.
Powers Jan 28th 2009 at 08:08 am 10

But does this comic take place in 1979 or in 2009? The fact that we can’t tell is a failure on the part of the artist to get his point across.
Mateus Jan 28th 2009 at 09:50 am 11

Powers - It has to be 1979, since the military no longer allows smoking indoors or around the sensitive equipment
Axis of Peter Jan 28th 2009 at 10:26 am 12

I read it the same way as Mario and Conor, except I also suspected the writer was adding a little facetious dig at the internet, suggesting that we may be obsessed with playing on the Internet at the expense of all sorts of knowledge and innovation.
heather Jan 28th 2009 at 10:42 am 13

Yeah, I’m with Conor. It’s a freakin TIME MACHINE. Yah, the internets is cool and all, but a TIME MACHINE!!
Kevin Andresen Jan 28th 2009 at 11:22 am 14

Also the previously noted reel to reel tape drive (upper right) marks the time as in the past. (not that any current read/write storage medium is necessarily better than a high speed reel to reel tape drive; yes, Seagate, I looking at you.)

I was on the way to greatness myself before I dialed in with my first 9600 baud modem.
Scott Jan 28th 2009 at 12:03 pm 15

I agree it is 1979, both from the pipe and the big hulking electronics. For me, the funny thing is how clueless they are. I used the Arpanet in 1975 or so to run a program at Stanford from Illinois. I also was on Plato, which had interactive games, discussion groups, instant messaging used by people all around the world - in 1975. The only thing we were missing is spam.
Matthew Jan 28th 2009 at 12:35 pm 16

The date doesn’t matter. Whether the scientist returns to 1979 or to 2009, that all he did was play with the internet, and he sounds like someone who’s been on the internet too long, is the joke.
Mark in Boston Jan 28th 2009 at 04:44 pm 17

A visitor from 1979, at the height of the energy crisis, would expect to find solar panels on every roof and windmills in every yard. He would be appalled at how unprepared we are for the next energy crisis (which may not come soon, but certainly must come someday).
Elliott Jan 28th 2009 at 07:23 pm 18

Scott, you were on Plato in 1975? So was I, at FSU.
Dan Jan 28th 2009 at 10:55 pm 19

The fact that he looked at “only” the Internet is not the point. That’s why he was sent into the future. These three guys are trying to create what will become known as the Internet, since it was a military/scientific venture at first. This guy went 30 years into the future to see how their creation turned out, and he’s suitably impressed.
tofor Jan 28th 2009 at 11:29 pm 20

You guys were on Plato in 1975? So was…wait. I wasn’t born yet in 1975. Never mind.
Elliott Jan 29th 2009 at 08:47 am 21

Well, with time travel it no longer matters, tofor! Welcome back.
Scott Jan 29th 2009 at 01:22 pm 22

Elliott,
I was on from 1974 - 1977, at the U of I. I wrote the Star Trek preview column for the Red Sweater News - which I think was the first e-newspaper in history. Happy memories.
J-L Jan 29th 2009 at 02:23 pm 23

Have you ever heard people say things like, “If someone told me the internet was going to be this phenomenal thirty years ago, I would’ve thought he was crazy”?

This cartoon is basically trying to get the same point across: It’s the 1970s, and the first person to test the time machine says that the then-fledgling internet (not really expected to last for very long) is “AMAZING.”

Would you believe his seemingly over-the-top claim? Or would you be more inclined to think that he didn’t time travel at all, but rather went crazy from the experiment and should be committed to a mental institution? The other people in the comic might be thinking the latter, assuming the time-travel experiment a failure, thus turning their backs to the greatest scientific achievement of mankind.

(Oh, and by the way, in thirty years nobody remembers facebook and over 95% of the ruling class has the Alpha-Centaruian version of comicsidontunderstand.com as their home page.)