Penny Arcade - Comic - Requieminem

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Penny Arcade - Comic - Requieminem

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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Lttlefoot

This comic calling Eminem "dad music" is itself ten years old

Overkillengine

Panel 2 has all them pretty clouds they could be yelling at.

Lucascraft

As an extremely casual enjoyer of Eminem who knows practically nothing about his personal life, persona, or anything like that, I’m a little surprised to learn that Slim Shady is an alter ego or persona at all. I just thought it was a lyric in a song from a while ago.

PLA

I thought Slim Shady was literally just Eminem.

see317

I feel like they've answered the question posed by the strip already.
It's Straub who takes over arting when Gabe gets murdered, right?

MichaelLC

If he's smart, he won't stand up.

Tofystedeth

Not only are they still doing records, there are people still releasing albums on tape cassettes.

Steel Angel

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Not only are they still doing records, there are people still releasing albums on tape cassettes.

I think it's specifically surprising to learn about Eminem doing vinyl releases. His style of music isn't what I imagine some types of vinyl fans envision when talking about how it has a warmer sound than digital formats or the other common reasons for liking the format. Course, there were metal bands putting stuff out on vinyl before CDs became dominant so it's not entirely weird in my head. Just mostly weird to think about.

Solvent

Well a lot of artists do still produce records on vinyl because assortments of expensive merch are key to making money now that you don't actually get paid for music, unless you're Taylor Swift or Beyoncé level.

But also "record" is just slang for like, a recording, an album. Like if you hang around jazz musicians any instrument can be an "axe", any tune is a "chart" even if it's not written down and a someone with great chops is a "motherfucker".

Artists and their lingo, yeah?

Gasquatch

Steel Angel wrote: »

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Not only are they still doing records, there are people still releasing albums on tape cassettes.

I think it's specifically surprising to learn about Eminem doing vinyl releases. His style of music isn't what I imagine some types of vinyl fans envision when talking about how it has a warmer sound than digital formats or the other common reasons for liking the format. Course, there were metal bands putting stuff out on vinyl before CDs became dominant so it's not entirely weird in my head. Just mostly weird to think about.

Yeah DJs hate rap on vinyl, you got it dude.

V1m

Solvent wrote: »

Well a lot of artists do still produce records on vinyl because assortments of expensive merch are key to making money now that you don't actually get paid for music, unless you're Taylor Swift or Beyoncé level.

But also "record" is just slang for like, a recording, an album. Like if you hang around jazz musicians any instrument can be an "axe", any tune is a "chart" even if it's not written down and a someone with great chops is a "motherfucker".

Artists and their lingo, yeah?

The 'Save' icon in Windows 11 and associated applications is a picture of a disc format that has been obsolete for almost a quarter century.

dennis

V1m wrote: »

Solvent wrote: »

Well a lot of artists do still produce records on vinyl because assortments of expensive merch are key to making money now that you don't actually get paid for music, unless you're Taylor Swift or Beyoncé level.

But also "record" is just slang for like, a recording, an album. Like if you hang around jazz musicians any instrument can be an "axe", any tune is a "chart" even if it's not written down and a someone with great chops is a "motherfucker".

Artists and their lingo, yeah?

The 'Save' icon in Windows 11 and associated applications is a picture of a disc format that has been obsolete for almost a quarter century.

Add to that the magnifying glass, clipboard, and cogwheel icons. Those are all pretty anachronistic as well.

Lttlefoot

All of those are still in use

dennis

You're missing the point. For the vast majority of users who will be using these applications, they don't use or interact with any of those things.

RatherDashing

How do people do their sleuthing without magnifying glasses?

dennis

Millenials ruined the magnifying glass industry.

MichaelLC

Now we're the cogs.

Lttlefoot

When you go to the doctor's office as a new patient don't you still write your details on a clipboard?

And cogs were never something that most people saw, they've always been invisible doing their job in the background

Emperor Megaman

Lttlefoot wrote: »

When you go to the doctor's office as a new patient don't you still write your details on a clipboard?

I mean, if we go like that, people are still making and buying CDs. The point is it's not the default most common way people listen to music. And even moreso if you're using a computer.
By the way, several countries have switched to a digital resume. The doctor can just consult your history and details there.

dennis

Lttlefoot wrote: »

When you go to the doctor's office as a new patient don't you still write your details on a clipboard?

By your own example, you can tell how anachronistic it is to use a clipboard as an icon/metaphor for "place text goes when you hit ctrl-c (or equivalent)". "What does copying text have to do with the thing that provides a hard surface for filling out my health history?"

Cogs for settings is even worse.

All that said, I'm not saying replace them. Because at some point, these things are just symbols that we learn just like we learn words that like "electric" and "left/right" and "squirt." Those aren't tied to any real inherent meaning for most people. They're just a sequence of sounds that, when put together, are tied to a thing we all understand. If you go and read up on the etymology, you can see how they came about (or, at least, theories). But that history is irrelevant to actually using the word. Same thing with the symbol. You learn that the disk icon means save, regardless of the underlying technology. It means they can fit a tiny picture there instead of of a word, which takes up too much space when legible.

tldr; Software icons have become a language, just like written/spoken language, and you don't have to know the history to communicate.

Steel Angel

Lttlefoot wrote: »

When you go to the doctor's office as a new patient don't you still write your details on a clipboard?

And cogs were never something that most people saw, they've always been invisible doing their job in the background

Enough stuff out there uses gears that people still get the idea. Bicycle gears are probably one of the more prevalent and accessible examples. They may not be lined up the same way as you see in cog icons, but people still get the idea.

dennis

And just to repeat myself: cogs as an icon for settings? Doesn't mean anything to people. It's just that they've learned "that's the thing you click on for settings."

The hamburger menus have really pushed this to the limit. They don't even mean anything anachronistic. They're completely abstract, and we've had to give them a name that's vaguely similar to what they are (but not enough that you don't have to explain it to someone if they've never heard/read it). There's also a few more names that haven't caught on quite yet.



Makes me wonder just how many more of these totally abstract ones we're going to get.

Though the hamburger icon is surprisingly old.

Rhesus Positive

Foundry uses a hard drive symbol for save, which is how I lost a load of work because I didn't realise that's how you saved it

Vontre

Those icons are just ordinary items that weren't particularly common in the 1990s either. Only the floppy disk for save is really an of its time thing. Schools still use paper and office supplies. In fact the good ones are reverting *away* from unnecessary digital tech, because research is pointing toward all that physical stuff being really good for childhood brain development.

Dratatoo

I think it's specifically surprising to learn about Eminem doing vinyl releases. His style of music isn't what I imagine some types of vinyl fans envision when talking about how it has a warmer sound than digital formats or the other common reasons for liking the format. Course, there were metal bands putting stuff out on vinyl before CDs became dominant so it's not entirely weird in my head. Just mostly weird to think about.

I don't really get the obsession with new releases on vinyl. The whole production stack is digitally nowadays, so its most likely the stuff you are hearing from the record has been digitally compressed somewhere. But well, analogue fans like clinging to their voodoo. At least future generations might have some easier playback option for some select 20xx titles should we decide to WW3.

Those icons are just ordinary items that weren't particularly common in the 1990s either. Only the floppy disk for save is really an of its time thing. Schools still use paper and office supplies. In fact the good ones are reverting *away* from unnecessary digital tech, because research is pointing toward all that physical stuff being really good for childhood brain development.

I hate these icons. They are so abstract, it makes it a hassle to describe their function and shape for anybody "uninitiated". Bonus point if a program includes several of them "Not the hamburger menu, the meatballs menu on the second menu bar from the top. No not that one, the second one" I already get higher blood-pressure just thinking about it.

Vitari

Most people I know who buy vinyl do it to have a physical copy they can display or look at, which I totally get. I loved holding album sleeves and reading liner notes growing up. Nobody I know who buys vinyl has a full-on audiophile setup anyway; usually Bluetooth speakers, which sort of defeats the purpose.

And for artists, that might be one of their only profit centers outside of touring, especially if you get into limited color runs, deluxe editions. Not enough people buy CDs to make a difference anymore, and streaming pays jack shit.

I’d have a vinyl habit if I could afford it.

dennis

Dratatoo wrote: »

I hate these icons. They are so abstract, it makes it a hassle to describe their function and shape for anybody "uninitiated".

They're abstract in shape, but even worse is abstract in function. Often you'll say "press the save button" or "click settings" or whatever. We don't usually say "press the disk icon" or "press the gear wheel." Maybe to the very technically illiterate, but then we're back to the issue of them not knowing what a "disk" icon for something that's been out of date for decades.

But these buttons... they don't really even have a name for what they do. They don't "save" or "undo" or whatever. They... just do something. Sometimes they bring up the menus. Sometimes they expand/collapse the sidebar (gmail). What they do doesn't seem to be particularly related to what they look like (hamburger may do exactly the same kind of thing as the meatballs). Useless.

Overkillengine

And unless you have all day every day to fingerfuck your mobile device, you have no clue what functions are nested who knows how many layers deep in arbitrary UI. Same reason I hated the "ribbon" UIshit Microsoft foisted upon us in Office when the old style menus were perfectly functional. Just stinks of someone trying to justify their paycheck by making everything so arbitrary and Kafkaesque to interact with that no one can tell if they are actually doing anything anymore.

And then the cancer spreads to desktop apps.

My back hurts. Get off my lawn!

Tofystedeth

dennis wrote: »

Dratatoo wrote: »

I hate these icons. They are so abstract, it makes it a hassle to describe their function and shape for anybody "uninitiated".

They're abstract in shape, but even worse is abstract in function. Often you'll say "press the save button" or "click settings" or whatever. We don't usually say "press the disk icon" or "press the gear wheel." Maybe to the very technically illiterate, but then we're back to the issue of them not knowing what a "disk" icon for something that's been out of date for decades.

But these buttons... they don't really even have a name for what they do. They don't "save" or "undo" or whatever. They... just do something. Sometimes they bring up the menus. Sometimes they expand/collapse the sidebar (gmail). What they do doesn't seem to be particularly related to what they look like (hamburger may do exactly the same kind of thing as the meatballs). Useless.

Generally it's because they don't do anything, they just contain a menu of options that do things (or contain links to more menus). For that purpose they're fine.