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Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Explanation: Many of the things are so obscure or misdirected at the age group people would have had at the release that it would not work to make them feel old saying he line)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|More on the entries in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below on how this and that ting refers to a recurring subject like Star Wars, Pokemon etc.}}
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This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]]. The next comic about feeling old, was released 11 months later, with a similar title, which is special in it self, [[1898: October 2017]] see more on both title and this follow up comic in the [[#Trivia|trivia]] section below.
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]].  
 
  
 
Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The  [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say:     
 
Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The  [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say:     
 
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"  
 
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"  
As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both {{w|The Xbox 360}} as well as this comic, [[xkcd]] it self. The sentence would then be:
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As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both the {{w|Xbox 360}} as well as this comic, [[xkcd]] itself. The two possible sentences would then be:
:"Did you know that The Xbox 360 and xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?"  
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:"Did you know that the Xbox 360 has been around for the majority of your life?"
 +
:"Did you know that xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?"  
  
This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty-one (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 20 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.
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This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty (with {{w|Toy Story}}) and then suddenly realizing that this was 21 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that more than half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.
  
This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that Twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing, for instance, that the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter. Of course also many ten years old would not have been active on Twitter when it was released, so it may not have that big an impact on those 20 years old today.
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This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that {{w|Twitter}} is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing, for instance, something like that the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter. Of course also many ten years old would not have been active on Twitter when it was released, so it may not have that big an impact on those 20 years old today.
  
Actually many of the chosen things are something that Randall specifically has interest in. And while movie series like Star Wars, The Matrix and Toy Story are probably well known to most of xkcd readers as are games like The Sims and Pokémon, books like Harry Potter and comics like Calvin an Hobbes, then there are some things that are either only known to xkcd readers, not to anyone or at least not to people who where only 8-12 years old when the thing occurred. And if the person was not even aware of the specific thing existing, or at least not aware of it at the time when it was new, then the impact of saying the sentence to them will be little to none. Basically the first three ages would fall into this part. At 8 years old you are not supposed to play Grand Theft Auto, and Rickrolling is also mainly for adults, not 8-9 years old children. Worst of all is the reference for age 18 to the, probably mostly unknown, movie Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, which is directed at adults, and thus definitely not at those children that where 9 years old when it was released.  
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Actually many of the chosen things are something that [[Randall]] specifically has interest in and several of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic. And while movie series like {{w|Star Wars}}, {{w|The Matrix}}, {{w|X-Men}}, {{w|Shrek}} and Toy Story are probably well known to most of xkcd readers as are games like {{w|The Sims}} and {{w|Pokémon}}, books like {{w|Harry Potter}} and comics like {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}, then there are other things that are either only known to xkcd readers, basically not to anyone or at least not to people who where only 8-12 years old when the thing occurred. And if the person was not even aware of the specific thing existing, or at least not aware of it at the time when it was new, then the impact of saying the sentence to them will be little to none. Basically the first three ages, 16-18 years, would fall into this category. At 8 years old you are not supposed to play any version of {{w|Grand Theft Auto}} (not that some might not do it), and {{w|Rickrolling}} is also mainly for young adults, not 8-9 years old children. Worst of all is the reference for age 18 to the, probably mostly unknown, movie {{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}, which is directed at adults, and thus definitely not at those children that where 9 years old when it was released.
  
Nintendo Wii for people at 10 years old is the first that might make an impact, as will Xbox 360, but then again not xkcd, which is not directed at 10-11 years old children. But the entire comic is mainly made to make readers of xkcd feel old, by letting them know ho long all these items are. But for the big movies and events that most people know about, it might also work on people not interested in xkcd.
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{{w|Nintendo Wii}} for people at 10 years old is the first that might make an impact, as will Xbox 360, but then again not xkcd, which is not directed at 10-11 years old children. But, the entire comic is mainly made to make readers of xkcd feel old by letting them know how long all these items are. But for the big movies and events that most people know about, it might also work on people not interested in xkcd. See more regarding if the sentence would work or not in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.
  
 
The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old.  It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.
 
The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old.  It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.
  
For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems [[Randall]] went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie {{w|Toy Story}}, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is  the one for {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuned}} hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.
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For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems Randall went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie {{w|Toy Story}}, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is  the one for {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuned}} hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.
 
 
Many of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic.
 
  
 
The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...
 
The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...
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| April 29, 2008
 
| April 29, 2008
 
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
 
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series
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| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series. The games are often rated as Mature (and thus aimed at adults) and this entrance should not really affect 16 year old persons, which may have tried the game now, but should not have played the game when they where only 8 years old.
 
| 8
 
| 8
 
| 8.5
 
| 8.5
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| May 2007
 
| May 2007
 
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
 
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch.
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| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch which has been [[:Category:Rickrolling|referred to often]] in xkcd. Since this was aimed at people knowing the song (from 1987) and also people being on-line, mainly young adults, then this entrance should not really affect 17 year old persons who is unlikely to have been rickrolled when they where only 8.5 years old.  
 
| 8.5
 
| 8.5
 
| 9.5
 
| 9.5
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| April 13, 2007
 
| April 13, 2007
 
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
 
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old.  
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| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old. Probably very few people in general had heard of this movie, which is probably part of the comics joke in the first place.
 
| 9
 
| 9
 
| 9.6
 
| 9.6
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| November 19, 2006
 
| November 19, 2006
 
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
 
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012.
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| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012. This sentence is likely to work as 10 years old is likely to play Wii and thus as 20 year old remember the time before, and be surprised at how long time it is since they played Wii the first time, and feel old. It is the first sentence that might actually work.
 
| 9.5
 
| 9.5
 
| 10.0
 
| 10.0
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| March 2006
 
| March 2006
 
| {{w|Twitter}}
 
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day.
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| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day. Although not unlikely, there were probably few 10-11 years old that used Twitter the first year of it's release, and thus not many 20 year old people today would have been active on Twitter ten years ago, and for all those this will fail to make an impact-
 
| 10
 
| 10
 
| 10.7
 
| 10.7
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| 21
 
| 21
 
| 1995
 
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox),<br>September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
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| November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360),<br>September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
 
| The {{w|Xbox 360}},<br>{{w|xkcd}}
 
| The {{w|Xbox 360}},<br>{{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005)
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| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005). The Xbox will work on the 21 year old person, similar to the reason the Wii above would work. xkcd would not as it is not a comic directed at 10-11 year old persons, who would thus not have any feelings towards that part. But it is also just included as a self-reference and to make faithful xkcd readers feel old. "Is it really more than 10 years ago I read it first..."
 
| 10.5
 
| 10.5
 
| 11.0
 
| 11.0
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| 2005 (no specific date)
 
| 2005 (no specific date)
 
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
 
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on {{w|Vin Diesel}} which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out.
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| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on {{w|Vin Diesel}} which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out. Since these facts are mainly based on his series {{w|Walker, Texas Ranger}} running from 1993-2001, thus ending when the 22 years old of today was only 7 years old, they have never been the target group for the crazy Chuck Norris Facts. And it is thus also unlikely that they where much impacted by them when they where 11-12 years old. It thus seems unlikely that this sentence would work.
 
| 11
 
| 11
 
| 11.5
 
| 11.5
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| January 25, 2004
 
| January 25, 2004
 
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
 
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004
+
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a {{w|Mars rover}} that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. There is already a comic called and genreally Mars Rovers are a [[:Category:Mars rovers|recurring subject]] on xkcd. This sentence will work on 23 year-olds who as a kid followed every missions to Mars, and that is not unlikely to happen for an 11.5 year old kid. Especially if they today are interested in xkcd. But for people that did not have that interest it may have no effect to use this sentence.
 
| 11.5
 
| 11.5
 
| 12.8
 
| 12.8
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| February 4, 2004
 
| February 4, 2004
 
| {{w|Facebook}}
 
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time.
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| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time. Since kids under 13 are not allowed on Facebook the 24 years old could not have signed up at the time of its foundation. But when it was opened up for anyone in 2006, they would have been 14 years of age. But that would then only have been 10 years ago. So in principle this would not really work as well. However, everyone today knows about Facebook, and to learn that it has existed half of your life may still make you feel old. The xkcd user may feel old learning that it is 12 years ago that it came into existence, and then this entrance would have fulfilled it's purpose anyway.
 
| 12
 
| 12
 
| 12.8
 
| 12.8
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| 1991
 
| 1991
 
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail),<br>July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')
 
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail),<br>July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')
| {{w|Gmail}},<br>''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
+
| {{w|Gmail}},<br>''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003. (Average date is November 4, 2003).
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| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. It was originally invitation-only (until 2007), and not marketed to kids, so it is unlikely that many 13 year olds would have been using it in 2004; however, it had since grown in popularity, and a lot of 25 year olds would be using it today. ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003, then three more movies followed before the release of this comic. (Average date is November 4, 2003). The movie was rated PG-13 and would likely have been a hit among 12-13 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had a Gmail address at that time though.
 
| 12.5
 
| 12.5
 
| 13.0
 
| 13.0
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| January 7, 2003
 
| January 7, 2003
 
| {{w|In da Club}}
 
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}
+
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}. This song is directed at adults, and thus not at kids of 13 years old, so it seem unlikely that it would be an memorable event that this hit song came out for those that are 26 years old today.
 
| 13
 
| 13
 
| 13.8
 
| 13.8
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| September 20, 2002
 
| September 20, 2002
 
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
 
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic
+
| ''Firefly'' is a space western drama TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}}, that became a cult classic. This may be Randall's favorite TV series, and it has been [[:Category:Firefly|referenced often]] in xkcd, but it was not aimed at children, and it is likely that a given 27 year old person did not see this series when it aired, and thus the impact would be small.
 
| 13.5
 
| 13.5
 
| 14.1
 
| 14.1
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| October 7, 2001
 
| October 7, 2001
 
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
 
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}.
+
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}. Altough many 14 years old would not be following the news on war that closely, this war was based on {{w|9/11}} which would have affected most people, and certainly 14 year old kids in the US, and thus it is likely that the sentence would work on those 28 years old today. Randall could for even better effect have used 9/11 as the reference.
 
| 14
 
| 14
 
| 15.1
 
| 15.1
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| October 23, 2001
 
| October 23, 2001
 
| The {{w|iPod}}
 
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players.
+
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players. This would probably work on lots of 29 year-olds, as 14-15 year old kids are likely to have had (or wished they had) and iPod.
 
| 14.5
 
| 14.5
 
| 15.0
 
| 15.0
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| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''),<br>January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
 
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''),<br>January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
 
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'',<br>{{w|Wikipedia}}
 
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'',<br>{{w|Wikipedia}}
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001.  (Average date is March 17, 2001).
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| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name (three other movies has followed since then before the release of this comic). It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001 (and massively linked to from this website, which even have a [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia category]] for comics like this that references the website directly).  (Average date is March 17, 2001). Although the movie was rated PG it was a big hit among any ages and 15 year old kids is likely to have seen and loved the movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had used Wikipedia at the time when it was launched. Because at that time the number of articles was limited and it was not like today where 15 year old school children would use it to look up things. But of course realizing that before that time you had to use paper encyclopedias for all the thing you today look up on-line on Wikipedia may still make a 30 year old feel old. As will many xkcd readers regardless of age. "Is it only 15 years ago we could not use Wikipedia..."
 
| 15
 
| 15
 
| 15.8
 
| 15.8
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| July 14, 2000
 
| July 14, 2000
 
| Those X-Men movies
 
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person.
+
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person. The X-Men movie was rated PG-13 and 15-16 year old kids is likely to have loved seeing this movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.  
 
| 15.5
 
| 15.5
 
| 16.3
 
| 16.3
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| February 4, 2000
 
| February 4, 2000
 
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''
 
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''
| ''The Sims'' is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch.
+
| ''The Sims'' is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played The Sims, and thus it seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 32 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd. This was the one that Randall should have used on himself to feel old, as he had just turned 32 years old a few weeks before the release of this comic.
 
| 16
 
| 16
 
| 16.8
 
| 16.8
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| October 19, 1998
 
| October 19, 1998
 
| Autotuned hit songs
 
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' from October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place.
+
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' from October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place. Due to the unspecific date of this thing, it can be a little difficult to judge how well it would affect 33 year old people, but as autotuning has been a standard for many years, it may make one feel old to know it has been like that half your life. On the other hand maybe people cannot even remember how it was before...
 
| 16.5
 
| 16.5
 
| '''18.1'''
 
| '''18.1'''
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| May 19, 1999
 
| May 19, 1999
 
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
 
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person.
+
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The {{w|Star Wars}} universe is most likely the [[:Category:Star Wars|most referenced]] movie universe in xkcd. The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person. These movies has likely been awaited with excitement by many 17 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.
 
| 17   
 
| 17   
 
| 17.5
 
| 17.5
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| March 31, 1999
 
| March 31, 1999
 
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''
 
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix, as The Wachowski Brothers).
+
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix'', as The Wachowski Brothers). Two more films followed, although they were widely regarded as inferior to the first (by for instance by Randall as seen in [[566: Matrix Revisited]]). The Matrix was something new and is likely to have influenced 17-18 years old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.  
 
| 17.5
 
| 17.5
 
| 17.6
 
| 17.6
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| September 28, 1998
 
| September 28, 1998
 
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}
 
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}}, series often referenced in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998.
+
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}} series, a series [[:Category:Pokémon|often referenced]] in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played Pokémon games and thus in particular this version released when the target group was 18 years old. It thus seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 36 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd.
 
| 18
 
| 18
 
| 18.1
 
| 18.1
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| April 29, 1997 (Netflix),<br>June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter),<br>September 15, 1997 (Google)
 
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix),<br>June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter),<br>September 15, 1997 (Google)
 
| {{w|Netflix}},<br>{{w|Harry Potter}},<br>{{w|Google}}
 
| {{w|Netflix}},<br>{{w|Harry Potter}},<br>{{w|Google}}
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered.   (Average date is 03-07-1997).
+
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997). Harry Potter is widely read, but at the time of it's release it was probably not at first taken up by those of 18-19 year old. That may have first come later, maybe with the release of the {{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|first movies}} in 2001, four years later. It may this not be the best example for this age group. Also using Google and Netflix just when they where launched may also not have been so popular among 18-19 year olds in 1997. But still all three things are big and to realize that they have been in half of you life, may still work in making you feel old.
 
| 18.5
 
| 18.5
 
| 19.4
 
| 19.4
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| May 11, 1997
 
| May 11, 1997
 
| Deep Blue's Victory
 
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions.
+
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions. Randall has a great interest in {{w|chess}} and it is a [[:Category:Chess|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. But unless the 38 year old is a bit interested in chess they may not even now what Deep Blue is let alone have any relation to how long ago the victory occurred. But chess players, would have noticed this particular day where humanity was beaten by a computer, especially if they where 19 at the time.
 
| 19
 
| 19
 
| 19.5
 
| 19.5
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| 1977
 
| 1977
 
| September 13, 1996
 
| September 13, 1996
| Tupac's Death
+
| {{w|Murder of Tupac Shakur|Tupac's Death}}
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.
+
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Since he has two of the best selling albums in the United States and has been ranked as one of the greatest artists of all (Rolling Stone ranked him 86/100) it seems likely that many 39 year olds would be affected by the sentence. For fans of Tupac his death would come a s shock. He likely had many of those among those 19-20 year old at the time of his murder. For people not interested in rap music at all it may have little to no impact though.
 
| 19.5
 
| 19.5
 
| 20.2
 
| 20.2
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| December 31, 1995
 
| December 31, 1995
 
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]
 
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.
+
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It is a [[:Category:Calvin and Hobbes|recurring subject]] on xkcd . Although this comic was not mainly aimed at 20 year old people, it would have had a lot of fans among people that are 40 today. But also many would have found the series later. It is thus very likely that this sentence would work, especially on fans of xkcd.
 
| 20
 
| 20
 
| 20.9
 
| 20.9
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| November 22, 1995
 
| November 22, 1995
 
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''
 
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length animation film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film)
+
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length digitally-animated film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film). Given that this was the first film of it's kind many 20-21 year old would have seen it when it came out. However, there would also be many in that age group that would consider it a children's movie and choose not to see it. For those the sentence would not work, but for many xkcd fans, such movies are a big thing and for anyone who saw this movie (and the two follow up movies) the sentence would work perfectly. As a side note those of 41 year old when reading this comic in November 2016, will feel young instead, when they see that they are the last in the list that have a sentence when they read the final entry here below. So the comic may actually have some type of opposite effect on them.
 
| 20.5
 
| 20.5
 
| 21.0
 
| 21.0
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| N/A
 
| N/A
 
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
 
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]].
+
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. Showing people of 42 years or older this chart, would make them feel old when they look for their age and find this. Also, it may disappoint older readers of xkcd, as they do not to get a chance to make a sentence. (See the opposite effect mentioned for the 41 years old above).
 
| >20.5
 
| >20.5
 
| N/A
 
| N/A
Line 365: Line 363:
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
 
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
 
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
**Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
+
**But since then one more comic like this has been released, see below.
 +
*Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
 
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holliday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:
 
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holliday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:
 
***[[656: October 30th]]
 
***[[656: October 30th]]
 
***[[680: December 25th]]
 
***[[680: December 25th]]
 
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]
 
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]
**And just a year has been used thrice (including 2016):
+
**And just a year has been used for time (including later comics):
 
***[[998: 2012]]
 
***[[998: 2012]]
 
***[[1311: 2014]]
 
***[[1311: 2014]]
 
***[[1624: 2016]]
 
***[[1624: 2016]]
 +
***[[1779: 2017]]
 
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.  
 
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.  
 
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.  
 
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.  
 
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}.  
 
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}.  
 
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election.  
 
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election.  
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the united states, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.  
+
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the United States, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.  
 
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!
 
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!
 
+
*Almost a year later Randall then released [[1898: October 2017]], the only second comic with this type of title.
 
+
**This comic is also designed to make you feel old, thus continuing the trend of this comic.
 
+
**But furthermore, in the title text, it references the election from the day before this comic came out, coming full circle on what might make you feel old.
 +
**Could be a reference to above mentioned discussion if it was really needed to make someone feel old on that particular day in November 2016, thus indirectly acknowledging people that had such objections.
 +
**This was also the first release of a comic to make one feel old since this one. Thus reminding people that a year has almost passed already, is in a way another way to make people feel old, if they remember this previous comic.
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
Line 400: Line 402:
 
[[Category:Star Wars]]
 
[[Category:Star Wars]]
 
[[Category:Chess]]
 
[[Category:Chess]]
 +
[[Category:Songs]]
 
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]
 
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]

Revision as of 18:56, 5 October 2017

November 2016
Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.
Title text: Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.

Explanation

This is yet another comic designed to make you feel old, following soon after the last one 1745: Record Scratch. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: 1686: Feel Old. The next comic about feeling old, was released 11 months later, with a similar title, which is special in it self, 1898: October 2017 see more on both title and this follow up comic in the trivia section below.

Specifically this comic contains The November 2016 Guide to making people feel old. (The unusual title for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say:

"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"

As an example the age 21 can be used, as it list both the Xbox 360 as well as this comic, xkcd itself. The two possible sentences would then be:

"Did you know that the Xbox 360 has been around for the majority of your life?"
"Did you know that xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?"

This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in 891: Movie Ages. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see trivia). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty (with Toy Story) and then suddenly realizing that this was 21 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that more than half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.

This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that Twitter is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing, for instance, something like that the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter. Of course also many ten years old would not have been active on Twitter when it was released, so it may not have that big an impact on those 20 years old today.

Actually many of the chosen things are something that Randall specifically has interest in and several of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic. And while movie series like Star Wars, The Matrix, X-Men, Shrek and Toy Story are probably well known to most of xkcd readers as are games like The Sims and Pokémon, books like Harry Potter and comics like Calvin and Hobbes, then there are other things that are either only known to xkcd readers, basically not to anyone or at least not to people who where only 8-12 years old when the thing occurred. And if the person was not even aware of the specific thing existing, or at least not aware of it at the time when it was new, then the impact of saying the sentence to them will be little to none. Basically the first three ages, 16-18 years, would fall into this category. At 8 years old you are not supposed to play any version of Grand Theft Auto (not that some might not do it), and Rickrolling is also mainly for young adults, not 8-9 years old children. Worst of all is the reference for age 18 to the, probably mostly unknown, movie Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, which is directed at adults, and thus definitely not at those children that where 9 years old when it was released.

Nintendo Wii for people at 10 years old is the first that might make an impact, as will Xbox 360, but then again not xkcd, which is not directed at 10-11 years old children. But, the entire comic is mainly made to make readers of xkcd feel old by letting them know how long all these items are. But for the big movies and events that most people know about, it might also work on people not interested in xkcd. See more regarding if the sentence would work or not in the table below.

The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned 891: Movie Ages to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems Randall went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie The Matrix, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie Toy Story, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is the one for autotuned hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with Cher's song Believe released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the table below.

The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...

Table for the guide

  • Explanation of table:
    • Persons age as given in the comic.
    • Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.
    • Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).
    • Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
    • Half age - Persons age divided by two, so either an integer or a half integer (10 or 10.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.
    • Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and not necessarily in half years. Only one of the entries are more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in bold.
Age Birth year Date of things Things Explanation Half age Years ago
16 2000 April 29, 2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Popular video game published by Rockstar Games; the 11th title in the Grand Theft Auto series. The games are often rated as Mature (and thus aimed at adults) and this entrance should not really affect 16 year old persons, which may have tried the game now, but should not have played the game when they where only 8 years old. 8 8.5
17 1999 May 2007 Rickrolling A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". A type of bait and switch which has been referred to often in xkcd. Since this was aimed at people knowing the song (from 1987) and also people being on-line, mainly young adults, then this entrance should not really affect 17 year old persons who is unlikely to have been rickrolled when they where only 8.5 years old. 8.5 9.5
18 1998 April 13, 2007 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old. Probably very few people in general had heard of this movie, which is probably part of the comics joke in the first place. 9 9.6
19 1997 November 19, 2006 The Nintendo Wii 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012. This sentence is likely to work as 10 years old is likely to play Wii and thus as 20 year old remember the time before, and be surprised at how long time it is since they played Wii the first time, and feel old. It is the first sentence that might actually work. 9.5 10.0
20 1996 March 2006 Twitter 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day. Although not unlikely, there were probably few 10-11 years old that used Twitter the first year of it's release, and thus not many 20 year old people today would have been active on Twitter ten years ago, and for all those this will fail to make an impact- 10 10.7
21 1995 November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360),
September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
The Xbox 360,
xkcd
2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. Randall also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the first 13 comics where released on LiveJournal on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent 1750: Life Goals he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005). The Xbox will work on the 21 year old person, similar to the reason the Wii above would work. xkcd would not as it is not a comic directed at 10-11 year old persons, who would thus not have any feelings towards that part. But it is also just included as a self-reference and to make faithful xkcd readers feel old. "Is it really more than 10 years ago I read it first..." 10.5 11.0
22 1994 2005 (no specific date) Chuck Norris Facts Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor Chuck Norris which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on Vin Diesel which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has replied to these factoids more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out. Since these facts are mainly based on his series Walker, Texas Ranger running from 1993-2001, thus ending when the 22 years old of today was only 7 years old, they have never been the target group for the crazy Chuck Norris Facts. And it is thus also unlikely that they where much impacted by them when they where 11-12 years old. It thus seems unlikely that this sentence would work. 11 11.5
23 1993 January 25, 2004 Opportunity's Mars Exploration Opportunity is a Mars rover that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. There is already a comic called and genreally Mars Rovers are a recurring subject on xkcd. This sentence will work on 23 year-olds who as a kid followed every missions to Mars, and that is not unlikely to happen for an 11.5 year old kid. Especially if they today are interested in xkcd. But for people that did not have that interest it may have no effect to use this sentence. 11.5 12.8
24 1992 February 4, 2004 Facebook Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to Myspace and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time. Since kids under 13 are not allowed on Facebook the 24 years old could not have signed up at the time of its foundation. But when it was opened up for anyone in 2006, they would have been 14 years of age. But that would then only have been 10 years ago. So in principle this would not really work as well. However, everyone today knows about Facebook, and to learn that it has existed half of your life may still make you feel old. The xkcd user may feel old learning that it is 12 years ago that it came into existence, and then this entrance would have fulfilled it's purpose anyway. 12 12.8
25 1991 April 1, 2004 (Gmail),
July 9, 2003 (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Gmail,
Pirates of the Caribbean
Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to Hotmail. It was originally invitation-only (until 2007), and not marketed to kids, so it is unlikely that many 13 year olds would have been using it in 2004; however, it had since grown in popularity, and a lot of 25 year olds would be using it today. Pirates of the Caribbean, a popular movie franchise, had its first movie Curse of the Black Pearl debut in 2003, then three more movies followed before the release of this comic. (Average date is November 4, 2003). The movie was rated PG-13 and would likely have been a hit among 12-13 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had a Gmail address at that time though. 12.5 13.0
26 1990 January 7, 2003 In da Club Rap song by 50 Cent. This song is directed at adults, and thus not at kids of 13 years old, so it seem unlikely that it would be an memorable event that this hit song came out for those that are 26 years old today. 13 13.8
27 1989 September 20, 2002 Firefly Firefly is a space western drama TV series created by Joss Whedon, that became a cult classic. This may be Randall's favorite TV series, and it has been referenced often in xkcd, but it was not aimed at children, and it is likely that a given 27 year old person did not see this series when it aired, and thus the impact would be small. 13.5 14.1
28 1988 October 7, 2001 The War in Afghanistan The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Altough many 14 years old would not be following the news on war that closely, this war was based on 9/11 which would have affected most people, and certainly 14 year old kids in the US, and thus it is likely that the sentence would work on those 28 years old today. Randall could for even better effect have used 9/11 as the reference. 14 15.1
29 1987 October 23, 2001 The iPod The iPod was a music playing device created by Apple Inc. in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players. This would probably work on lots of 29 year-olds, as 14-15 year old kids are likely to have had (or wished they had) and iPod. 14.5 15.0
30 1986 May 18, 2001 (Shrek),
January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
Shrek,
Wikipedia
Shrek is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name (three other movies has followed since then before the release of this comic). It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001 (and massively linked to from this website, which even have a Wikipedia category for comics like this that references the website directly). (Average date is March 17, 2001). Although the movie was rated PG it was a big hit among any ages and 15 year old kids is likely to have seen and loved the movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had used Wikipedia at the time when it was launched. Because at that time the number of articles was limited and it was not like today where 15 year old school children would use it to look up things. But of course realizing that before that time you had to use paper encyclopedias for all the thing you today look up on-line on Wikipedia may still make a 30 year old feel old. As will many xkcd readers regardless of age. "Is it only 15 years ago we could not use Wikipedia..." 15 15.8
31 1985 July 14, 2000 Those X-Men movies The X-Men film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (X-Men (July 14, 2000), X2 (May 2, 2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person. The X-Men movie was rated PG-13 and 15-16 year old kids is likely to have loved seeing this movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. 15.5 16.3
32 1984 February 4, 2000 The Sims The Sims is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played The Sims, and thus it seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 32 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd. This was the one that Randall should have used on himself to feel old, as he had just turned 32 years old a few weeks before the release of this comic. 16 16.8
33 1983 October 19, 1998 Autotuned hit songs 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of autotuning songs. Cher's song Believe from October 19, 1998 may be the first time that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place. Due to the unspecific date of this thing, it can be a little difficult to judge how well it would affect 33 year old people, but as autotuning has been a standard for many years, it may make one feel old to know it has been like that half your life. On the other hand maybe people cannot even remember how it was before... 16.5 18.1
34 1982 May 19, 1999 The Star Wars Prequels The Star Wars prequel trilogy (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (May 19, 1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (May 16, 2002), Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The Star Wars universe is most likely the most referenced movie universe in xkcd. The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person. These movies has likely been awaited with excitement by many 17 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. 17 17.5
35 1981 March 31, 1999 The Matrix Action film created by The Wachowskis (formerly known, at the time of The Matrix, as The Wachowski Brothers). Two more films followed, although they were widely regarded as inferior to the first (by for instance by Randall as seen in 566: Matrix Revisited). The Matrix was something new and is likely to have influenced 17-18 years old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. 17.5 17.6
36 1980 September 28, 1998 Pokémon Red & Blue A popular video game franchise in the Pokémon series, a series often referenced in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played Pokémon games and thus in particular this version released when the target group was 18 years old. It thus seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 36 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd. 18 18.1
37 1979 April 29, 1997 (Netflix),
June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter),
September 15, 1997 (Google)
Netflix,
Harry Potter,
Google
All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997). Harry Potter is widely read, but at the time of it's release it was probably not at first taken up by those of 18-19 year old. That may have first come later, maybe with the release of the first movies in 2001, four years later. It may this not be the best example for this age group. Also using Google and Netflix just when they where launched may also not have been so popular among 18-19 year olds in 1997. But still all three things are big and to realize that they have been in half of you life, may still work in making you feel old. 18.5 19.4
38 1978 May 11, 1997 Deep Blue's Victory Deep Blue was a chess computer, who defeated Garry Kasparov, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions. Randall has a great interest in chess and it is a recurrent subject on xkcd. But unless the 38 year old is a bit interested in chess they may not even now what Deep Blue is let alone have any relation to how long ago the victory occurred. But chess players, would have noticed this particular day where humanity was beaten by a computer, especially if they where 19 at the time. 19 19.5
39 1977 September 13, 1996 Tupac's Death Tupac Shakur was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Since he has two of the best selling albums in the United States and has been ranked as one of the greatest artists of all (Rolling Stone ranked him 86/100) it seems likely that many 39 year olds would be affected by the sentence. For fans of Tupac his death would come a s shock. He likely had many of those among those 19-20 year old at the time of his murder. For people not interested in rap music at all it may have little to no impact though. 19.5 20.2
40 1976 December 31, 1995 The last Calvin and Hobbes strip Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip by Bill Watterson that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It is a recurring subject on xkcd . Although this comic was not mainly aimed at 20 year old people, it would have had a lot of fans among people that are 40 today. But also many would have found the series later. It is thus very likely that this sentence would work, especially on fans of xkcd. 20 20.9
41 1975 November 22, 1995 Toy Story The Pixar animated film Toy Story was the first feature length digitally-animated film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film). Given that this was the first film of it's kind many 20-21 year old would have seen it when it came out. However, there would also be many in that age group that would consider it a children's movie and choose not to see it. For those the sentence would not work, but for many xkcd fans, such movies are a big thing and for anyone who saw this movie (and the two follow up movies) the sentence would work perfectly. As a side note those of 41 year old when reading this comic in November 2016, will feel young instead, when they see that they are the last in the list that have a sentence when they read the final entry here below. So the comic may actually have some type of opposite effect on them. 20.5 21.0
>41 Before 1975 N/A [Don't worry, they've got this covered] This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in 1213: Combination Vision Test and in the messages in the Play Area of 1608: Hoverboard. Showing people of 42 years or older this chart, would make them feel old when they look for their age and find this. Also, it may disappoint older readers of xkcd, as they do not to get a chance to make a sentence. (See the opposite effect mentioned for the 41 years old above). >20.5 N/A

Transcript

[Caption above the panel:]
The November 2016
Guide to making people
feel old
[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]
If they're [age], you say:
"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"
Age Thing
16 Grand Theft Auto IV
17 Rickrolling
18 Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Colon Movie Film for Theaters'
19 The Nintendo Wii
20 Twitter
21 The Xbox 360, xkcd
22 Chuck Norris Facts
23 Opportunity's Mars Exploration
24 Facebook
25 Gmail, Pirates of the Caribbean
26 In da Club
27 Firefly
28 The War in Afghanistan
29 The iPod
30 Shrek, Wikipedia
31 Those X-Men movies
32 The Sims
33 Autotuned hit songs
34 The Star Wars prequels
35 The Matrix
36 Pokémon Red&Blue
37 Netflix, Harry Potter, Google
38 Deep Blue's Victory
39 Tupac's Death
40 The last Calvin and Hobbes strip
41 Toy Story
>41 [Don't worry, they've got this covered]

Trivia

  • The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
    • But since then one more comic like this has been released, see below.
  • Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
  • As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.
    • This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the 2016 United States presidential election was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.
    • In the previous comic 1756: I'm With Her, from Monday the day before the election, Randall had endorsed Hillary Clinton from the Democratic Party.
    • Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the Republican nominee Donald Trump became President-elect of the United States after winning the election.
    • This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the United States, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.
    • And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!
  • Almost a year later Randall then released 1898: October 2017, the only second comic with this type of title.
    • This comic is also designed to make you feel old, thus continuing the trend of this comic.
    • But furthermore, in the title text, it references the election from the day before this comic came out, coming full circle on what might make you feel old.
    • Could be a reference to above mentioned discussion if it was really needed to make someone feel old on that particular day in November 2016, thus indirectly acknowledging people that had such objections.
    • This was also the first release of a comic to make one feel old since this one. Thus reminding people that a year has almost passed already, is in a way another way to make people feel old, if they remember this previous comic.


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Discussion

Ok transcript hopefully complete, but please check it over, as I did it while tired and staying up late waiting for the election results. Wyrme (talk) 05:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Spoiler alert: Trump won. --JayRulesXKCD (talk) 16:16, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

The main idea of the comic is stated in the first sentences "If they're [age], you say: "Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?" The majority of your life means "more than half your life". For each of the age stated in the comic, something that happened more than half the age ago is stated. As an example for the first two: Grand Theft Auto IV was released in 2008, which is 8 years ago. More than 8 years is at the same time more than half of 16 years, which means "the majority of a 16 year old's life" The next one goes for Rickrolling, which is "a prank and an Internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink." according to wikipedia. Even if the first reference is from 2007, the same Wiki page says that 'By May 2008, the practice had spread beyond 4chan and became an Internet phenomenon'. May 2008 is more than 8 and a half years ago which is more than half of 17 years. It goes on and on, with "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" which is a 2007 American Flash animated surreal comedy film", which again is more than 9 years ago and so on. Sorry if I'm not clear enough but I hope you got it. Anarhistu (talk) 11:19, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, the "majority part" is a bit confusing. I looked up 35 and saw "The Matrix" and I was like "wait, that didn't come out 35 years ago?!". Well, it didn't and that's not what the comic implys. However, it has been around for a MAJORITY (= more than half) of my life. 162.158.202.141 12:37, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm only 32, but saddened at the entry for 40. C&H was (and still is) one of my favorites. I say we all just take off today and play some Calvinball. Who's with me? 162.158.69.100 12:48, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

There is this last thing "over 41, we don't care" which I cannot really explain. Maybe the 40+ year olds seen all of these later in their life but why stop at this point? (which is around 1996, according to the "rules")? The internet has been around since way before that and if we take the first popular browser this was about 1993 or so. That would take us to 46. Is there any specific event which might be a reason to stop at 41? Anarhistu (talk) 13:12, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

No, people above 40 already feel old, no need for a chart --162.158.88.204 13:18, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Hood Men In Tights 162.158.69.100 13:21, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
He has previously stopped at a given age and stated that anyone older should feel old already --Kynde (talk) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
What's worse is... I knew several years had passed since this comic came out, so I back-dated my age to its release (as if I don't have to work out my current age, with the current year, pretty much... Every. Single. Time.) and found out that... ...I was already in the 'overflow' entry at the end, even then! Six and a half more years don't alter things that much. 172.71.242.191 05:09, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

But if I look in x years, then the entry at current age + x will have been there for (current age +x)/2 + x years, so if I look at it again after my age has doubled, the thing has been there for my entire life. --162.158.88.204 13:17, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Sorry your are completely wrong. If you are 20 now and look at something happening 10 years ago. Then when you are twice as old (40) you look at the same ting and that will then be 30 years old. It will always be 10 years younger than you. There was a mistaken explanation of the title text saying something like what you say, and now I have corrected it. He just means that if you show them this chart again when their age has doubles, you can say that this chart has now existed in the majority of your life. --Kynde (talk) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Heh. Randall isn't always prompt in posting new comics early on M/W/F, but this one went up promptly at 12:01am. He deserves to be embarrassed after the communist comic he posted on Monday. 172.68.55.83 13:31, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

How the hell did you make out Clinton to be a communist? It's Trump who likes Putin, where Clinton would be more against him... I guess he just thought people needed something that could distract them from the election, since most of his readers (especially after his previous comic) would have rooted for Clinton because of their fear that Trump won. On the other hand most people probably feels old today, after the election, so in that way the comic is a bit of a waste... --Kynde (talk) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
Sorry, but we Americans disagree with you. Too bad, so sad. 172.68.55.83 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Actually, we Americans chose Clinton, probably by a margin of >1M votes once CA and OR finish counting. Miamiclay (talk) 22:40, 11 November 2016 (UTC)
Almost three million, as it turned out; the margin in the popular vote was greater than the entire population of Chicago. Whoop whoop pull up (talk) 18:04, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
shush shush troll, nobody wants to hear your toxic lies 42.book.addict (talk) 22:40, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
Having just seen your effective mass vandalism of two other pages (maybe more), and so having a good idea where your 'sympathies' lie, you're probably going not going to acknowledge this (for whatever reason), but: Popular vote for Him: 62,984,828; Popular vote for Her: 65,853,514, a difference of 2,868,686 in her favour. And you randomly reply to a six-year-old comment? Yes, I think we know where you're at. 162.158.33.131 23:44, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

I don't understand how this is supposed to work. If I wanted to make someone feel old, I would pick an event that they think is fairly ancient and tell them: "do you realize you're *more* than twice as old as this?" Here, Randall does the opposite, he says: "did you know you're *less* than twice as old as this", so what? E.g. "Twitter has been around for a majority of your life" is true of anyone who is 0 to 20, so how is it supposed to make a 20-year-old feel old? Did Randall get his comic backwards or am I missing something? Zetfr 14:26, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

The idea is that you don't pick events that they think are ancient, you pick events that they think are recent. 162.158.222.138 16:46, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

The explanation says "The titletext points out that the same chart can be used for the same person much later in their life. However, the major event shifts earlier and earlier into their life; when their age has doubled, the event in the chart has happend in the year of their birth."
This makes no mathematical sense - the major event would shift earlier into their life, but not in time, and would remain the same distance from their birth year. What is probably intended is that now the chart itself will be around for a majority of their life (though I agree with the above commenter that it would probably make one feel young, not old). --172.68.10.90 14:54, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Exactly, what I wrote above to the other comment on this, and I have tried to correct it in the explanation. --Kynde (talk) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

I fixed the rest of the blank explanations, such as Gmail, Nintendo Wii, and others. Please fill in the 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', as I was not able to find information about it anywhere and I have not seen that show, nor the movie itself, so I cannot answer. --JayRulesXKCD (talk) 15:14, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Actually Randall may be wrong with some of those entries at the current moment. Let's say that somebody is 19 years old, but their 20th birthday is on the 10th of November. The entry for their age is the Nintendo Wii which came 9 years, 11 months and 20 days ago (as of November 9), which is not more than half of the subject's age. I think this occurs on quite a few of those entries, so either the chart is intended to be addressed only to people during their birthdays, or one can make fun of any geek who parades this list for not being rigorous with their maths. 108.162.246.35 15:38, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

That's pretty pedantic. We're so close to the end of the year that we can reasonably assume it means "people who turned X years old in 2016" 141.101.98.165
I think he just goes for events that is approximately half as old as the person. Only error he seems to have made is with the Matrix, which came when the 35 years old of today was 18, and it has thus only been in their life about 17 years. --Kynde (talk) 20:43, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
Pedantic? This is xkcd we're talking about. Not only that there's a post commenting on this comic's timing regarding the MWF pattern, as on every other similar comic, a fact that should be taken even less seriously, but Randall has greatly shown his support of pedants partly by repeatedly depicting them as empowered in his comics. I think that pedants have to either take responsibility for their demeanour or admit to the fact that their peculiarity does not even have the tradeoff of accuracy it should have. In other words, anyone who bothers others with a list like this better have precise information to offer if they expect to have any reason not to waste others' time. 108.162.246.35 05:25, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

36 years old: Half-life has been around half of your life. 18000 years old: Half of the curium-250 atoms have been around half of your life. 108.162.219.82 17:58, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

You might be old if you remember watching the Berlin Wall being torn down on television. You would be even older if you remember reading about the Berlin Wall at the time it was being built. I remember both ... I read about the wall being built in elementary (primary) school current events. Rtanenbaum (talk) 21:30, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Interesting, but not strange, to bring that wall up today. Since it is today the anniversary for it's destruction in 1989 (17 years ago so would have been good for the 34 years old). And very ironic that a man is then elected on this very day who has promised to build and even bigger wall between his country and another. --Kynde (talk) 22:14, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
If you want to feel really old, just remember that The Hoff sang "Looking for Freedom" in front of the Berlin Wall. ;) 198.41.242.242 11:01, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
Correction, 1989 is 27 years ago, half the life of a 54 year-old Rtanenbaum (talk) 15:02, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
Speaking of 1989, Taylor Swift's musical debut would be a viable alternative to the Wii RTM. Whoop whoop pull up (talk) 18:04, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
Auch I feel old now, that I could make such a mistake. Thanks for correcting it. But at least I'm not 54 yet, but I do remember the day very well. Just happy Randall raised the bar since his movie ages, so my age is still on the list and so I'm not just in the "rest above 41 group" ;-) --Kynde (talk) 15:06, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
It happened to me. Twice now, thanks to this comic. The first time was in grad school, when I was a student over the traditional age, Another student put out a survey which asked age at the end, offering various check boxes where I had to check the last one. I howled, "The next box is a pine box!" Ke4roh (talk) 18:46, 16 November 2016 (UTC)

Randall seems to be confused. If you think Twitter is young, then finding out that it's existed for a majority of your life would make you feel young. If you think Twitter is old, then of course it's been around for a majority of your life, it's old.

The right one would be: such-and-such has been around for less than 50% of your life.141.101.98.112 15:52, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Grand Theft Auto IV was merely "popular"? It set the record for highest first-day earnings across all media types until The Dark Knight was released that summer. Fun fact: The Dark Knight was added to the National Film Registry last year (2020), along with Shrek. As of that year, there are six 2000s theatrically-released movies on the registry (Memento, Shrek, Real Women Have Curves, Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight, and The Hurt Locker).

Just thought I'd mention: the huge edit I did a few days ago was a mixture of fixing incorrect usage (e. g. verb-subject agreement), oddly formal language (was a previous editor perhaps a non-native speaker?), and mostly philosophical.

By philosophical, I mean this: a lot of the material I removed changed the purpose of this wiki (as I perceive it). It's Explain xkcd, not rate xkcd. A great deal of what I removed was the past editor saying how good he/she thought each age-reminder was, not explaining the meaning of it. I don't think I completely fixed the article, but I do think I ameliorated that. Nitpicking (talk) 01:56, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Today is May 11th, the day of Deep Blue's victory. I guess it's the time for humans to fight back. 172.71.154.229 NaN:NaN, NaN undefined NaN (UTC)

GTA IV: Just because people who were 8 years old at the time of its release shouldn't have played it doesn't mean that they didn't. The regulation of video game classification & restriction of mature content that the Hot Coffee debacle caused was established enough that it was getting flouted by anti-authoritarians, and some kids could manipulate older adults into buying it for them. As well the game's impact on pop culture was inestimable, now-dated though it may seem today (it held the Guinness World Record for the single highest-earning piece of media on launch day until Avatar came out the following year, and it retained that record for the video-game sector until its sequel dethroned it). Kids would have obviously gone to any length to play it or at least watch their friends do so. 162.158.178.42 21:19, 2 November 2023 (UTC)