Editing 1316: Inexplicable

{{comic
| number    = 1316
| date      = January 13, 2014
| title     = Inexplicable
| image     = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still?}}

[[Cueball]]'s laptop has a problem that has resisted many hours of concentrated effort at resolution. [[Megan]] offers to help, but almost immediately concludes that the laptop is haunted.  Literally haunted, as in it is possessed by an evil spirit.

A similarly unresolvable problem can be seen in [[1084: Server Problem]]. In that case, no haunting is suggested, and Megan suggests Cueball wait for the Singularity.

The title text describes how a conversation would go if he attempted to return the laptop to the store. Being haunted is apparently not an acceptable reason for return.

The use of the word "ghost" may also be an allusion to the philosophical problem known as {{w|Ghost in the machine}}. This has been popularized through cyberpunk literature and movies, such as {{w|The Matrix}} and {{w|Ghost in the Shell}}. The question is whether machines are, or could be, conscious and have their own free will.

The comic may also be intended to remind us how non-technical users see computers and technology in general.  Often a non-technical person will anthropomorphize a gadget, assigning it a personality with quirks.  In this case, it happens to take the form of a ghost.  When they have problems, they often give the device to a slightly more technical person to deal with it, which they may not be able to do.  This may end up confirming (at least in the mind of the non-technical person) the personality of the device.  Note that Cueball is not "non-technical", so this possible interpretation does not literally match the depicted scenario.

It should be noted that technical users often joke about sufficiently complex systems operating at the mercy of supernatural forces ({{w|SCSI|SCSI interface}} maintenance [http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/neuffer/scsi/fun.html requiring goat sacrifices] being a popular past category). Encountering a machine that is literally posessed or cursed is a logical extension of this theme.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]