Editing 1630: Quadcopter

{{comic
| number    = 1630
| date      = January 15, 2016
| title     = Quadcopter
| image     = quadcopter.png
| titletext = I always have to turn off nature documentaries when they show these scenes.
}}

==Explanation==
There is large controversy over unmanned small-scale {{w|Quadcopter|quadcopters}}, which are a type of ''{{w|Unmanned aerial vehicle|drone}}''. Some people have objections towards the usage of quadcopters as, if equipped with cameras, they can potentially interfere with personal privacy and may pose a physical aerial hazard.

For this reason the US {{w|Federal Aviation Administration}} is now requiring any "drone" (unmanned aerial vehicle) to be registered so that it can find out whose fault it might be that a quadcopter interfered with commercial aircraft — or carried off a citizen to be devoured.

This comic takes place during a lesson where [[Cueball]] is a teacher.  He is standing in front of his students ([[Megan]], [[Ponytail]] and another Cueball-like guy), presenting to the class. He has a quadcopter lying ready on the ground behind him, and has apparently handed the remote control to the other cueball, presumably so he can try it once the introduction is over.

But then the teacher is attacked by three rogue quadcopters flying in from behind him. They grab him, lift him off the ground (a very complicated maneuver), and fly away with him. Meanwhile, his students just stand there watching and do nothing to help him. Afterwards Megan asks if they should actually have tried to help him, but then Ponytail takes the view that now that the drones are sentient, they have become a part of nature, and that you should not interfere but just "let nature take its course". This is a common comment in nature programs about wildlife, where the speaker tries to explain why the team that was there to film the animals dying did nothing to help them - because they will not interfere with nature. This would not be possible in real life assuming they weren't using unknown, advanced technology as Cueball outweighs the drones by several factors.{{Citation needed}}  

There is currently a drone called {{w|MQ-1 Predator}} which is used a lot by the {{w|CIA}} and {{w|USAF}}. Although it's not a quad-copter, the idea behind this comic could come from the drone's name-- taking the name literally and giving drones predatory behavior. This comic thus takes people's worries to the extreme, suggesting that the drones become sentient and can cooperate together just like a {{w|Pack (canine)|pack}} of {{w|wolves}} and grab a human being and fly off with him like an {{w|eagle}} would do with a smaller animal.

The title text refers back to the above as [[Randall]] confesses that he has to turn off any nature documentaries which show scenes of animals killing their prey, while the speaker tells that this would be part of nature. This continues the theme of treating drones as an occasionally-ugly but accepted part of nature.

Sentient quadcopters were part of the game in [[1608: Hoverboard]], where [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7c/1608_0950x1084y_Quadcopters_over_lava_lake_right.png one quadcopter is speaking to the other] over the lava lake in the Mount Doom crater to the left. How to solve the problem of too many drones was mentioned in [[1523: Microdrones]]. Just over a week before this comic was released another comic also had as subject a situation where our technological inventions begins to take control over us, see [[1626: Judgment Day]]. Comparing drones to animals is also present in [[1881: Drone Training]], when Black Hat Guy asks for a spray bottle for his drone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball to the left talks to Megan, Ponytail and a Cueball-like person, with a remote control. They are standing to the right. Behind Cueball, on the ground, there is a quadcopter.]
:Cueball: Welcome to Quadcopter-flying school.

:[Cueball looks over his shoulder as three other quadcopters fly in towards him from above and left. The other three people are in the same position.]
:Cueball: Today we'll be learning the basics of-
:Cueball: ...Uhh...

:[In this frameless image the three quadcopters all grabs hold of Cueball, two in each of his arms, one takes hold of his legs. And then they lift him up from the ground. He is thus hanging almost horizontally, with his head over Megan and his feet over the place where he stood before. The other three just stands there looking up at him.]
:Cueball: Um

:[Cueball is carried off by quadcopters, his head has already exited the top right corner, only his legs and the last quadcopter still in the frame. The other three have turned around looking up and right after him.]

:[Megan looks down again and the other two turns towards Megan. Cueball is gone and has only left his "tame" quadcopter behind on the ground.]
:Megan: Should we have helped?
:Ponytail: No. It's cruel, but we have to let nature take its course.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Drones]]