Talk:2019: An Apple for a Dollar

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 08:54, 16 July 2018 by 162.158.74.165 (talk)
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Is this a reference to how shops in America don't include VAT in price labels? (It's my first time trying to contribute to this so sorry if I get some format stuff wrong) 141.101.107.132 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Yeah, Randall would love it in Europe! (you should sign your posts with ~~~~ though) --172.68.51.22 15:53, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
It is a commentary on overly complex taxes and fees on things that really shouldn't have fees applied (I can think of hardly anything that really should have a fee applied, or be taxed really, but that's a political-philosophical discussion for another space-time coordinate) 172.69.70.239 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam
We call it sales tax, and it doesn't have the chaining-effect on every stage of production that VAT does, but yeah. It's rarely calculated into the sticker price. 162.158.106.246 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is food taxed where Randall lives? It's not where I live and I was under the impression that it's not in most of the US. It's not uncommon for me to go to a store after working out and buying a protein bar for exactly $1. 162.158.63.22 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Living smack-dab in the center of the US and I can tell you that pretty much everything has a sales tax. 172.69.70.239 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam
Groceries, such as apples, should not be taxed, but I believe that processed foods are taxed. Actually, nevermind, this is state dependent: [1] 172.68.46.137 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
In my experience food is indeed taxed like everything else, but businesses will sometimes set the actual price of the item slightly below $1, such that the tax makes it cost exactly $1. The example that comes to mind is the soft-serve ice cream at IKEA. PotatoGod (talk) 16:31, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
That has been my experience as well, although it varies by region. — AfroThundr (u · t · c) 16:37, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
In Germany we have two types of VAT. General rule of thumb 7% for food and print media and 19% for more or less everything else. It's a rule of thumb, because there are exemptions to the 7% stuff which suddenly are taxed 19%. But in either case it's included on the price tag. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 08:45, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

The closest thing this can relate to a for a European is buying dinners or hotel rooms if you come from a corrupt East or Southern European country where "tourists tax" is a real thing and added out of nowhere on top of the regular price, because the regular price only have to include regular taxes.162.158.202.58 16:39, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm thinking on the analysis I tentatively added to the explanation above. I assumed Megan was an engineer, but re-reading the comic ("Should I solve for something ??") I think it's more possible she no longer has to do math in her career, and is being portrayed as having a flashback to school again when she encounters a similar situation to her education. The examples are common in math and physics in grade school. It's hard for me to figure out in my head how to combine all the different interpretations, or which ones are likely wrong; it would be great if somebody could clean it up. If not, it's just a tiny wiki on the internet. 172.68.54.160 18:25, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is this really a grocery store? I thought of it more as a coffee shop. Minimalist decor and whatnot. It's also one of those places where you would explain introductorily that you want just the apple. --108.162.237.130 18:15, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

The exact fraction of an apple needed to spend exactly $1.00 is 0.46082949308. MuensterCheese misspelled their username. Chat \o 19:23, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

"it seems the cashier is unable to figure out how to handle it" for me it feels like the cashier gets the customers "needs" very fast and responds in a very clever and symbiotic way that benefits both parties.

One could also interpret this as an analogy of Randall's first experiences with cryptocurrencies (to avoid naming any specific one), which makes transactions as simple as possible without any tricks. The title text then suggests that it's possible in this scenario to send fractions of a unit in cryptocurrencies. 108.162.241.142 20:09, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

"I'd like 0.4608 apples, please" - "Thank you, that will be $0.999936" 162.158.74.165 08:54, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

The real joke I think is over paying for an apple

I'm pretty sure $1 is over priced for an apple... $2.17 criminally so

Maybe it's big and heavy apple? ... but the issue might be more that apples are almost always sold by weight, and the weight multiplied by unit price is very unlikely to produce round number for price unless you are VERY lucky. -- Hkmaly (talk) 22:00, 15 July 2018 (UTC)
Depends on where she's buying them. If it's a grocery store, where apples are usually sold in bulk, then $1 per apple is high. If it's a mini mart (like 7/11) or a coffee shop/fast food place, where apples are sold individually as a side, then $1 per apple is pretty reasonable.