Comments on: Dave Davenport Has Come Unstuck in Time: July 21-26, 2003 https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/ By Shaenon K. Garrity Sat, 13 Jul 2024 17:50:47 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: ylaraniala https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-16491 Fri, 25 Aug 2017 08:52:14 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-16491 Amy, everyone knows that Mell can be easily stopped at this point and Madblood is an easily distracted geek. Neither one were going to do a lot of damage in the long run. Free thinking robots are unpredictable (and also are a win for Madblood’s street cred). Of course it’s worse – to Narbonic’s Labs, anyway.

I love Dave liaising.

]]> By: Amy https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-16289 Thu, 11 Aug 2016 01:21:18 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-16289 Tuesday (and multiple other strips on the same subject): I never understood why other characters kept saying Artie was “to blame” for the situation with the robots or that it’s “his fault”. He’s RESPONSIBLE, yes, but “blame” and “fault” imply that he made things WORSE. I don’t think anyone would be better off if the robots were still obeying Madblood (or Mell). Does anyone else remember that both the robots’ “masters” were planning to use them to take over the world and kill a lot of people? Helping them free themselves is not only the right thing to do in that anything intelligent deserves to be free, it also caused much LESS harm than leaving them as slaves would have. I’d rather deal with a union than an invasion! It seems to me that the absolute worst-case scenario — which we have no reason to think did or would happen — is that the androids eventually try to take over the world, AS THEY WOULD HAVE DONE ANYWAY! Only now they don’t have Madblood backing them up with mad science or Mell with weapons and strategy, so they’d STILL be less of a threat than if Artie hadn’t interfered.

(SPOILERS)

In fact, even though people talk about the robots as a threat throughout the rest of the strip, as if just having free will automatically makes them evil, they don’t cause any more serious problems until the end — when their free will is REMOVED and they’re turned back into tools for world domination.

(END SPOILERS)

I just don’t see why everyone acts like it’s WORSE for the robots to think for themselves than to blindly obey orders, considering all the people they’ve obeyed in the strip have been evil, insane or both and have used them to try to take over the world. We’re not talking about an Isaac Asimov scenario here, where the robots usually obey ALL humans but refuse to hurt anyone — these guys were programmed to obey ONE egomaniac and had no problem whatsoever with killing people. Artie changed that and now people are mad at him for it??

]]> By: Ed Gedeon (eddurd) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8358 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:25 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8358 (TUNE: “The Christmas Song”, Mel Torm? and Bob Wells)

Gerbils handing out some sympathy,
Patting Dave upon the nose …
Self-esteem wasn’t good; now we see
It’s reaching brand-new all-time lows!

Ev’rybody knows that working ’til you overload
Still can’t keep the doubts at bay …
Even though he’s got software to code,
It’s hard to concentrate … today!

‘Cause he thinks Helen’s really hot!
He doesn’t know if she returns the thought or not …
Although he’s learned the skil, since he was hired,
To keep his head low, out of Mell’s line of fire!

But even Artie, with his genius brain,
Knows there’s not much he can do …
So he’ll simply say, with a heartfelt refrain,
“Dave, I’m here, dude … for you …”

]]> By: So It Begins (soitbegins) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8357 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:24 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8357 Awwww.

]]> By: Leon Arnott (l) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8356 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:23 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8356 Saturday:

Artie should perhaps have said “several hours with a human body”. There’s something about the current wording, and its coming from a gerbil in particular, that puts me at unease.

Dave shouldn’t take too hard Artie’s pity for his enfeebled form, considering how much trouble Artie had at piloting it using only his rodentine intuitions. If anything, it’s the thought that counts.

Fourth-wall dialogue: 41.

]]> By: So It Begins (soitbegins) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8355 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:22 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8355 Heh.

]]> By: Elaine Corvidae (elaine_corvidae) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8354 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:21 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8354 But it isn’t unrelated to the “machines like Dave” concept, which turns out to be quite important.

]]> By: Ed Gedeon (eddurd) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8353 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:20 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8353 Merry Christmas, everyone, and thanks for the encouraging words!

]]> By: Ed Gedeon (eddurd) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8352 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:19 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8352 (TUNE: “The Little Drummer Boy”, Katherine K. Davis)

Robots like me …
(One zero one one)
They broke their strike for me …
(One zero one one)
A story arc awaits …
(One zero one one)
E-mailing to Bill Gates …
(One zero one one, zero one one, zero one one)
“Let my people go!”
(One zero one one)
Gee, this is fun!

]]> By: David Harmon (mental_mouse) https://narbonic.com/comic/july-21-26-2003/#comment-8351 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:47:18 +0000 http://narbonic.com/?p=3441#comment-8351 Well, that’s the difference between actual long-term plotting, and mere seasonal arcs.  The robots will be back….

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