Editing 2834: Book Podcasts
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a WHAT IF? AUDIOBOOK - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | [[Randall]] (represented as [[Cueball]]) discusses his love of {{w|podcast}}s, episodic audio files of a talk show. He uses them to pass the time when doing chores. At one point he imagines what it would be like if someone made a podcast narrating books, as an easy and convenient way to digest literature when reading the book yourself isn't an option. As spelled out in the caption, he quickly realizes he hasn't invented a new concept but simply described the existence of | + | [[Randall]] (represented as [[Cueball]]) discusses his love of {{w|podcast}}s, episodic audio files of a talk show. He uses them to pass the time when doing chores. At one point he imagines what it would be like if someone made a podcast narrating books, as an easy and convenient way to digest literature when reading the book yourself isn't an option. As spelled out in the caption, he quickly realizes he hasn't invented a new concept but simply described the existence of {{w|audiobook}}s. He also confesses this has happened more than once. |
− | + | "{{w|First principles}}" are the set of propositions that a method or theory is founded on. Normally, first principles can't be derived from other propositions. In this case, Randall is describing the first principles of audiobooks by working backwards from a medium that was invented later, and that borrowed elements from the existence of audiobooks. The humor is in this circular reasoning and {{w|anachronistic}} thought process. | |
− | + | As shown in [[1367: Installing]] this is not the first time Randall has accidentally reinvented the proverbial wheel. | |
− | The title text is an inverse of the joke, with Randall seemingly having been listening to the ''{{w|Lord of the Rings}}'' audiobook without realizing that this "podcast" | + | The title text is an inverse of the joke, with Randall seemingly having been listening to the ''{{w|Lord of the Rings}}'' audiobook without realizing that this "podcast" was actually originally a book written by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}. This would {{w|The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)#Reception|likely irritate}} longtime fans of the book. In 1952, Tolkien's friend George Sayer [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/1952_tape_recording recorded Tolkien narrating excerpts from ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''], later distributed more widely in the 1970s on vinyl records, which this may also be an allusion to. |
− | + | This comic is similar to [[2724: Washing Machine Settings]]. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== |