Difference between revisions of "3233: Make It Myself"
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A BOT MADE WITH 20 MINUTES OF CODING, 30 MINUTES OF TROUBLESHOOTING, ANOTHER HOUR OF CODING, AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO CURSOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | {{incomplete|This page was created BY A BOT MADE WITH 20 MINUTES OF CODING, 30 MINUTES OF TROUBLESHOOTING, ANOTHER HOUR OF CODING, AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO CURSOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | ||
| − | There are many people who complain about rising prices with the | + | There are many people who complain about the retail price of items (especially, but not only, after rising prices such as with the trend of high rates of inflation occuring at around the time of this comic). People sometimes claim that they could make something themselves, thinking it will be quick and easy. Instead, Cueball reflects real life by listing the actual effort he would expend on such a project. In total, Cueball spends $60 creating his replacement, and requires 5-6 hours of "labor" which likely has a value greater than $80 by itself, and then ends up just buying the one in the store because his {{w|do it yourself|do-it-yourself}} replacement proves unreliable or fragile. This means that Cueball actually lost $60 on this venture, as well as at least a few hours and several trips to the store. |
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| + | Furthermore, Cueball misses the point that most people aren't as technically capable as Cueball (or as [[:Category:Cueball's computer problems|irrationally confident]] as Cueball is about his technical capabilities), so may not even be able to ''start'' to consider the self-built item, and might therefore reasonably consider the $80 price tag good value. | ||
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| + | The title text has Cueball compensating for his losses by deluding himself into believing that the leftover supplies will help him with a future project. He shows unusual self-awareness in recognising that this will likely just cause him to repeat the whole process, but fails to notice that this is actually an argument against his proposal. | ||
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| + | Whether building a new product is at all realistic depends, in part, on the supplies. When deciding whether to do work personally, versus paying for a product or service, a common dilemma is that the DIY approach requires specialized tools and/or buying a larger amount of material than one will need. There may not be a future personal project requiring a specialized drill bit or leftover screws, in which case the leftovers will gather dust until they are thrown out or sold off at a steep discount. If Cueball was determined enough to put the leftovers to use, he might offer to create improved versions of his solution for other people, gradually amortizing the up-front costs and ultimately creating a competing product years later. Barring major cost-saving innovations, that new product might end up costing a similar amount to the original. If the original's price was inflated, the two products might drive down each other's prices through competition. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | ||
| − | Cueball and White Hat stand together | + | :[Cueball and White Hat stand together looking at two boxes on the right side of the frame. Each box has labels saying "Sale" and "$80" on one of the visible sides of the box, and illegible text on the other visible side of the box. Cueball is holding his arms out toward the boxes.] |
| − | Cueball: They want $80 for this? I could make one myself for $10 in parts, an hour of work, a trip to the hardware store, another $30 in parts, another few hours of work, two more trips to the store for $20 more in parts, another hour to redo the first hour of work because I messed up, and $80 to buy this when the one I made breaks. | + | |
| + | :Cueball: They want $80 for this? | ||
| + | :Cueball: I could make one myself for $10 in parts, an hour of work, a trip to the hardware store, another $30 in parts, another few hours of work, two more trips to the store for $20 more in parts, another hour to redo the first hour of work because I messed up, and $80 to buy this when the one I made breaks. | ||
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude> | {{comic discussion}}<noinclude> | ||
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]] | [[Category: Comics featuring White Hat]] | ||
Latest revision as of 08:44, 16 April 2026
| Make It Myself |
 Title text: It's not as big a loss as it looks, because now I have have leftover supplies, which will help me talk myself into doing this all over again with a new project! |
Explanation[edit]
|
This is one of 66 incomplete explanations: This page was created BY A BOT MADE WITH 20 MINUTES OF CODING, 30 MINUTES OF TROUBLESHOOTING, ANOTHER HOUR OF CODING, AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO CURSOR. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
There are many people who complain about the retail price of items (especially, but not only, after rising prices such as with the trend of high rates of inflation occuring at around the time of this comic). People sometimes claim that they could make something themselves, thinking it will be quick and easy. Instead, Cueball reflects real life by listing the actual effort he would expend on such a project. In total, Cueball spends $60 creating his replacement, and requires 5-6 hours of "labor" which likely has a value greater than $80 by itself, and then ends up just buying the one in the store because his do-it-yourself replacement proves unreliable or fragile. This means that Cueball actually lost $60 on this venture, as well as at least a few hours and several trips to the store.
Furthermore, Cueball misses the point that most people aren't as technically capable as Cueball (or as irrationally confident as Cueball is about his technical capabilities), so may not even be able to start to consider the self-built item, and might therefore reasonably consider the $80 price tag good value.
The title text has Cueball compensating for his losses by deluding himself into believing that the leftover supplies will help him with a future project. He shows unusual self-awareness in recognising that this will likely just cause him to repeat the whole process, but fails to notice that this is actually an argument against his proposal.
Whether building a new product is at all realistic depends, in part, on the supplies. When deciding whether to do work personally, versus paying for a product or service, a common dilemma is that the DIY approach requires specialized tools and/or buying a larger amount of material than one will need. There may not be a future personal project requiring a specialized drill bit or leftover screws, in which case the leftovers will gather dust until they are thrown out or sold off at a steep discount. If Cueball was determined enough to put the leftovers to use, he might offer to create improved versions of his solution for other people, gradually amortizing the up-front costs and ultimately creating a competing product years later. Barring major cost-saving innovations, that new product might end up costing a similar amount to the original. If the original's price was inflated, the two products might drive down each other's prices through competition.
Transcript[edit]
|
This is one of 43 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
- [Cueball and White Hat stand together looking at two boxes on the right side of the frame. Each box has labels saying "Sale" and "$80" on one of the visible sides of the box, and illegible text on the other visible side of the box. Cueball is holding his arms out toward the boxes.]
- Cueball: They want $80 for this?
- Cueball: I could make one myself for $10 in parts, an hour of work, a trip to the hardware store, another $30 in parts, another few hours of work, two more trips to the store for $20 more in parts, another hour to redo the first hour of work because I messed up, and $80 to buy this when the one I made breaks.
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Almost did the same thing, but satisfied with results. Wanted to build a very shallow wide drawer for Ikea Ivar shelf that I use as computer station. Only one I saw that came close was $190. I probably spent $50-60, three hours planning and assembling, three trips to hardware stores and two reworked designs before I made what I wanted. Used a Cambro serving tray form Amazon, couple oak "project boards", couple DIY dowels and screws. Fungible (talk) 22:23, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
...and a small aubergine. Jgharston (talk) 23:03, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
- Goodness gracious me! 81.179.199.253 00:24, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
Where did Dark Mode go??? I used to get it for free, and now I have to get an extension? King Pando (talk) 04:02, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
- It's still available on https://xkcd.com/3227/ Maofgf (talk) 07:52, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
Seems like today xkcd's website went back to normal, or as normal as can be when you don't have Dark Mode. SectorCorruptor (talk) 04:23, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
Bill Sutton's song "Do it Yourself" is the large-scale version of this. 2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2 04:36, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
I suspect "weather building" is a typo. Homophone problem.--2A00:23CC:D248:8901:801E:C71:4D35:EEB4 07:50, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
- "They want $20k for this cloud seeding operation?!? I could do it myself with $5k worth of silver iodide, 45 hours of pilot training, plane hire, time to develop a dispersal system... 82.13.184.33 08:48, 16 April 2026 (UTC)
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