Editing 1721: Business Idea
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
| date = August 17, 2016 | | date = August 17, 2016 | ||
| title = Business Idea | | title = Business Idea | ||
− | | image = | + | | image = business_idea2.png |
| titletext = Then we move to phase two. Gas stations store fuel in underground tanks. Normally, these are inaccessible except via the pump. However, with hydraulic fracturing, we-- Wait! Come back! | | titletext = Then we move to phase two. Gas stations store fuel in underground tanks. Normally, these are inaccessible except via the pump. However, with hydraulic fracturing, we-- Wait! Come back! | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | In this comic, | + | {{incomplete|'''Note that even though the image has been corrected to the new from xkcd here on explain xkcd, this page will continue to show the old comic 827 image for a while.''' May require further editing to meet wiki standards}} |
+ | In this comic, Cueball announces he has "an exciting business opportunity to share". After hearing discouragement from an off-panel voice, he promises that "this time it's a good one", and goes on to explain his plan. | ||
− | Cueball's plan involves the premise | + | Cueball's plan involves the premise of premium gas that is left in a petrol pump hose after a car driver fills their car up with premium petrol. He states that even if the next customer only pays for regular, that they are still getting a small amount of premium petrol. Though he does not finish saying the outline for his plan, one can assume he planned to get premium fuel at regular prices, so he could then sell it for profit. After hearing the first part of his plan, two off-panel voices announce they are leaving, clearing and correctly thinking that Cueball's idea is stupid and impractical. |
− | In reality, this would be an impossible business venture to execute. | + | In reality, this would be an impossible business venture to execute. At least in europe, there are separate pipes for different fuels. Plus, gas station likely buys premium fuel cheaper than it sells average gas... Also not only it is illegal to resell fuel without the correct licences [citation needed], but it would be difficult, bordering on impossible, to have the fuel pump run to ''just'' the premium fuel out, and driving to each petrol station would use more money to buy more fuel than any money that could be made back. |
− | [[1499 | + | Comic [[1499]] implies similar plan to extract wealth out of a small market inefficiency that, in reality, would be far too onerous to exploit. |
− | The title text is another one of Cueball's fuel-based business ventures, as he says he plans to dig up fuel stations underground fuel storage tanks, to then sell the contents of. Again, illegal | + | The title text is another one of Cueball's fuel-based business ventures, as he says he plans to dig up fuel stations underground fuel storage tanks, to then sell the contents of. Again, illegal, impractical, don't try it (though it would be much more profitable than his previous plan). The punchline is that a petrol station's underground tank is "inaccessible" from the outside, just as there are some oil deposits that are inaccessible to traditional oil production techniques because no sufficient natural flow towards a well can be obtained. In the case of oil deposits, high-pressure fluids are pumped into the rock to break it up ("fracturing") and allow the oil to reach the well. Oil tanks, on the other hand, can be made accessible by puncturing them using (presumably) hydraulically powered tools (electrical power is inadvisable in the presence of high-vapor-pressure hydrocarbons due to the significant risk of fire and explosion caused by electrical sparking). |
+ | |||
+ | ==Trivia== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Because this comic had the same title (and filename) as comic [[827]], Randall inadvertently broke both xkcd.com and explainxkcd.com when it went up. The main xkcd.com site showed this comic for both numbers, while explainxkcd.com showed 827 for both. As of 11:35am UTC Randall has fixed this by renaming comic [[827]] to "My Business Idea". | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball | + | {{incomplete transcript| Not sure proper formatting.}} |
+ | [First panel] | ||
+ | :[Cueball standing next to a board display, possibly a projector screen] | ||
:Cueball: Thank you all for coming. | :Cueball: Thank you all for coming. | ||
:Cueball: I have an exciting business opportunity to share. | :Cueball: I have an exciting business opportunity to share. | ||
− | :Off | + | :Off screen: Oh no. |
− | + | [Second panel] | |
− | :Cueball: Now hear me out- | + | :Cueball: Now hear me out - |
− | :Off | + | :Off screen: Your ideas are always the worst. |
:Cueball: No, no, this time it's a good one! I promise. | :Cueball: No, no, this time it's a good one! I promise. | ||
− | :Off | + | :Off screen: Uh Huh... |
− | :[ | + | [Third panel] |
− | :Cueball: When someone fills their car with premium gas, some of it is left in the hose, and is dispensed to the next customer even if they've only paid for regular. If we create a network of- | + | :[Display shows image of gas pump, with the hose highlighted] |
− | :Off | + | :Cueball: When someone fills their car with premium gas, some of it is left in the hose, and is dispensed to the next customer even if they've only paid for regular. If we create a network of- |
− | : | + | :Off screen: I'm leaving. |
− | + | :Someone else off screen: Me too. | |
− | |||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
− |