Editing 2670: Interruption

{{comic
| number    = 2670
| date      = September 9, 2022
| title     = Interruption
| image     = interruption.png
| titletext = It's been extra bad ever since my GPS got stuck on Phoebe Judge mode.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GPS VOICE SYNTHESIZER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about listening to a {{w|podcast}} while driving with GPS navigation using {{w|speech synthesis}} for {{w|turn-by-turn navigation}} driving instructions. Car audio systems typically allow voice navigation instructions to interrupt whatever else is playing so they can be heard clearly. It's usually easy for the driver to recognise such instructions due to the sudden change in characteristics of the voice.

However, if the synthetic voice is similar to the speech that was playing then it may be hard to distinguish between the two, especially if the navigation instructions coincide logically with the interrupted speech. In cases like this, the listener may at first not realise that the navigation instructions have interrupted the audio playing, and think that the instruction is part of the what that they were listening to, especially if they are concentrating intently on driving instead of the audio.

The comic suggests [[Randall]] misinterpreted driving instructions as part of the story being told in a podcast because the voices sound similar. The comic illustrates the instructions as if they were part of the story from the podcast. Due to the mysterious nature of the story and character being described, they conceivably could have said the navigation instruction line as part of the podcast, leading to a humorous ambiguity between the two.

Taking the conversation between the female podcaster and female protagonist (or potential {{w|antagonist}} in the story being told, it seems this comic passes the {{w|Bechdel test}}, at least so long as the (unknown, to us) key reasons behind the 'betrayal' aren't somehow about a man.

The title text suggests this confusion worsened after Randall's navigation instructions voice got stuck emulating {{w|Phoebe Judge}}, known for the {{w|Criminal (podcast)|''Criminal''}} and {{w|This Is Love (podcast)|''This Is Love''}} podcasts, implying he often listens to her.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[First panel, Cueball and Ponytail recording a conversational podcast at a table.]

Cueball: ...And that's when you knew she had betrayed you?"

Ponytail: Yeah, she picked up the money and walked out."

[Second panel, zoomed in on Ponytail]

Ponytail: To this day, I don't know if she planned it all.

Ponytail: But there was one moment that makes me think, maybe she did.

[Third panel, a silhouette in a doorway]

Ponytail (as voiceover) Just before she disappeared, she paused at the door, looked back at me, and said,

Silhouette (as diagetic speech): Hey - if I ever see you again,

[Fourth panel, zoomed in version of third panel]

Silhouette: Turn left at the next light

[Caption below the panels:]

It's so disorienting when a podcaster has a voice that's similar to my navigation app.

{{comic discussion}}