178: Not Really Into Pokemon

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 21:36, 17 September 2014 by 108.162.246.203 (talk) (Fix pokedex link)
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Not Really Into Pokemon
As of this writing, Ubuntu 6.10 and Firefox 2.0 have left my computer a complete mess.
Title text: As of this writing, Ubuntu 6.10 and Firefox 2.0 have left my computer a complete mess.

Explanation

Pokémon is a widely popular, animated, children's television show; collectible card game; and videogame series that involves a young trainer going out to explore the world to catch Pokémon, creatures of wild variety (ranging from armoured dinosaurs that have drills for horns to robotic bugs that change their type depending on the items that they are holding). When the trainer comes across wild Pokémon or other trainers, they use their Pokémon to fight the other.

The Pokémon universe currently contains over 700 different types of Pokémon, and new ones are being added every so often (much like new releases of computer software). Also, the names can sound very strange or silly to someone not familiar with them. In this comic, Black Hat is dismissing Ubuntu, an open-source computer operating system, as a Pokémon because it has a strange/silly name. The "condescension" comes from the fact that usually only children are "into" Pokémon.

The title text refers to the complications that new software releases can have on computers, especially if either the release is a(n) alpha/beta release or if the computer is rather old. After all, said title text does paint a picture of 2 computer programs physically fighting each other inside the computer and making a mess in the process, as if they were Pokémon.

Transcript

I have found the perfect phrase for condescendingly dismissing anything:
Cueball: Have you seen the new Ubuntu release?
Black Hat: Nah, I'm not really into Pokémon.


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Discussion

The title text is probably more specifically an allusion to Missingno and other glitch Pokemon in Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. Capturing them would make the text in the Hall of Fame render improperly. 108.162.216.83 03:05, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

On the other hand, it could be entirely literal and based on events of the time. -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 03:30, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

It should be noted that you can't catch them all, only most of them. NinjaWolf064 (talk) 20:26, 25 April 2017 (UTC)

Ubuntu 6 with Firefox 2? Im feeling so old right now 172.69.3.200 14:36, 30 April 2023 (UTC)

Should the title have an accent?

The title of the page currently has "Pokemon" in it, without the accent. I seem to remember there might have been some reason that the accent couldn't be there (due to special character issues or whatnot), but we seem to have Category:Pokémon and 1705: Pokémon Go just fine, so is it worth considering again? 108.162.241.232 23:41, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

The reason why it should not be there is simple: on xkcd.com it doesn't have an accent either. By comparison 1705 HAS the accent on xkcd.com. Also the category should use the correct writing. However this comic does not use it in the original title. - It could be made a piece of Trivia, that the title is not reflecting the "official" (trademarked?) spelling. --Lupo (talk) 07:21, 17 January 2019 (UTC)
Also, it seems that special characters in page titles mess things up. PoolloverNathan (talk) 15:22, 22 February 2021 (UTC)