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I've never really enjoyed xkcd. The title says "This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix". I think that actually this is funny because you know Unix. Barrier to entr

by maurycy 18y ago

I've never really enjoyed xkcd. The title says "This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix". I think that actually this is funny because you know Unix. Barrier to entry and understand the strips is low, yet gives an unique feeling of being special because you know others do not understand the joke.

jrockway 18y ago
So you're saying that he should just aim for the "lowest common denominator" instead? That market is already saturated. (Ever watch TV?)
mattmaroon 18y ago
http://mattmaroon.com/?p=329 http://mattmaroon.com/?p=329
- thaumaturgy 18y ago
  Ah, I see you devoted some space on your blog to a thinly veiled ride on the xkcd hate-wagon (and filed it under "pointless words of wisdom", natch). As soon as I realized that you were seriously citing Scott Adams as an authority on Funny, I knew we wouldn't find the same comics entertaining. You read a whole "5 or 10" of the xkcd comics, and you are a self-professed member of the target audience, so you afford yourself the expertise to declare it "not funny at all". And, you know what? You're absolutely right. xkcd isn't always funny. Sometimes -- some might say, often times -- it isn't funny at all. It certainly doesn't strive to deliver the same tired punch lines that so many other comics have. Aside from being something that I can often identify with, xkcd is charming. In that sense, it strikes me in much the same way that Calvin and Hobbes did, or Pogo. Sometimes, the best comic isn't that one that leaves me laughing, it's the one that leaves a smile on my face, or a temporary reminder of a more innocent way of seeing things, or a peculiar wistfulness. Those aren't effects that I've ever been able to credit to Scott Adams, and I don't think he could pull any of 'em off if he tried. If you can't see past your hunger for one more punch line, then I don't think you really "get" xkcd, either. I like xkcd when it's thoughtful instead of cheap, and I'm even amused by yet another spin on 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, as are many other literate nerds. (P.S.: When you put those "marks" around a word, those are quotes, not parentheses.)
- allenbrunson 18y ago
  you've got just about zero empathy, don't you. i see you demonstrate that fact, time and time again. i suppose i was that way when i was young also. i shudder to think.
asdflkj 18y ago
So what? That's part of what humor is. All jokes hinge on the idea that at least one person doesn't get it, even if it's a character in the joke itself.

by maurycy 18y ago

jrockway 18y ago

So you're saying that he should just aim for the "lowest common denominator" instead? That market is already saturated. (Ever watch TV?)

mattmaroon 18y ago

http://mattmaroon.com/?p=329 http://mattmaroon.com/?p=329

thaumaturgy 18y ago
Ah, I see you devoted some space on your blog to a thinly veiled ride on the xkcd hate-wagon (and filed it under "pointless words of wisdom", natch). As soon as I realized that you were seriously citing Scott Adams as an authority on Funny, I knew we wouldn't find the same comics entertaining. You read a whole "5 or 10" of the xkcd comics, and you are a self-professed member of the target audience, so you afford yourself the expertise to declare it "not funny at all". And, you know what? You're absolutely right. xkcd isn't always funny. Sometimes -- some might say, often times -- it isn't funny at all. It certainly doesn't strive to deliver the same tired punch lines that so many other comics have. Aside from being something that I can often identify with, xkcd is charming. In that sense, it strikes me in much the same way that Calvin and Hobbes did, or Pogo. Sometimes, the best comic isn't that one that leaves me laughing, it's the one that leaves a smile on my face, or a temporary reminder of a more innocent way of seeing things, or a peculiar wistfulness. Those aren't effects that I've ever been able to credit to Scott Adams, and I don't think he could pull any of 'em off if he tried. If you can't see past your hunger for one more punch line, then I don't think you really "get" xkcd, either. I like xkcd when it's thoughtful instead of cheap, and I'm even amused by yet another spin on 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, as are many other literate nerds. (P.S.: When you put those "marks" around a word, those are quotes, not parentheses.)
allenbrunson 18y ago
you've got just about zero empathy, don't you. i see you demonstrate that fact, time and time again. i suppose i was that way when i was young also. i shudder to think.

asdflkj 18y ago

So what? That's part of what humor is. All jokes hinge on the idea that at least one person doesn't get it, even if it's a character in the joke itself.