Although I did finally show my dad the iPad the other day, today’s strip was actually his reaction to my mom showing him pictures of the family dog (Uncle Willie) on my iPhone. He, in fact, did grab the phone and asked the images to bark and sit, but he was kidding. I think.
While it’s sometimes funny to see my parents using new technology, I’ve been impressed at their reactions to the iPad. My mom was looking for tape recorders (yes, tape recorders) on Amazon, and was doing a good job navigating around using the touch screen. And my dad did tap a few links when I was showing him some motor bikes via Google. If I keep working on those two, maybe they’ll want one by Christmas.
Oh, and in case you missed it a couple of weeks ago, here’s what Mombot’s “Told ya” was in reference to: JEFbot.265
1st or maybe 2nd – great strip as usual.
thanks, man!
and yep, you snagged first on this one, so these are yours:
😎
enjoy! 😀
Whoa second?! Damn.
Congrats Rod.
Anyway give it a year or two and voice control will be in everything. Everything you hear?! Now fridge give me something to eat.
ha! i i’m thinking about showing my dad the Touch Pets app the next time he tries that joke, Maryz.
and yes, i’d love it if my frig could make me burritos on command. 😉
3rd! Woohoo! Jefbot, you nailed this one.
thanks, uh, Lor? is that you?
maby in a few years well have servent bots to do our bidding or do a duel to the death with our friends servent bots for our amusment and honer.
For those about to die… we salute you!
If we are going to have bots as servants, etc., I call Jefbot! 😉
My husband and I were just saying the other day that we need a housewife (i.e., an additional person, not me) to take care of us. And if we are going to have someone taking care of us, it would be so much fun if it were Jefbot! And when he wasn’t cooking and cleaning, he could be playing video games with my son Taran and drawing us cool pictures. 😀 I like it!!! What do you say, Jeff? Wanna marry us? 😉
And we wouldn’t even ask you duel to the death for our honor.
I guess maybe I should comment on the coolness of your strip too instead of just going off on my fantasy of having someone to take care of us. I love how well you capture different facial expressions. Yours are perfect in this one!
You made me laugh. Thanks.
… Are you sure you want a hoarder of a Jefbot to be the one cleaning your house? And I seem to remember him complaining that he cooks instant noodles almost exclusively. I adore jefbot, I realy do, but i wouldnt trust him with my comfortable living and chores.
ha! not sure i like the cooking and cleaning part of the deal but i’d love to sit around drawing and playing video games for money! how much are we talking about here, Shanna? of course i’d need time off for auditions and for going to conventions, too. not to mention money for airfare, hotel stays and car rentals. hmmm… probably less expensive to get a real robot. 😉
and Maryz right: with my cleaning and cooking skills barely adequate at best, i don’t think i’d even hire myself as a servant bot. i’ll give you a great deal on renting the Cornfather, though.
Honestly, you couldn’t be too much worse at cooking and cleaning than I am. Now Adam is a pretty fabulous cook when he has the time. Lucky me! It’s just the time thing that keeps screwing it up.
And wait, no one said anything about pay. I was asking if you wanted to be our housewife! That’s not a paid position. Well, room and board, and maybe a small allowance for video games. And there’d be no problem with time off for auditions. So is that a no? 🙁
as long as those servant bots are nothing like Paulie’s robot from Rocky IV, i’m totally with you, Drakeye! (link)
my mom was totally blown away by wii rockband. i think a ipad would make here head explode.
i’ve totally tried to get my mom into Rock Band and Guitar Hero, t_d, but my efforts have so far gone unrewarded. of course, she can play the real guitar, so perhaps the games’ allure isn’t quite as strong for her.
she has given the iPad some gentle swipes though, so “to be continued” on whether or not she embraces apple’s beautiful tech at some point in the future.
My Dad, who is 78-years old, can fly a space shuttle with his Mac rig. He bought his first one when we kids left, so he could e-mail us, and now he upgrades every year for a new bell and whistle. Lucky for us, he’s generous with his hand-me-downs!
The only reason he doesn’t have an iPad—by his own admission—is that he’d lose it the moment he put it down. He needs his technology tethered to one place in the house so he always knows where it is. Which would be his office . . . my old bedroom . . . sniff . . .
your dad gets a new mac every year, Sarah W!? that’s so cool. i need to be his friend. 😉
and you totally need to persuade him to get an iPad – they’re big so they’re hard to lose! and i hear your “sniffles” – whenever i see my old room, which my mom has taken over now, i feel a little longing for my childhood. thankfully, she hasn’t been able to get rid of all my stuff in there!
I’d gladly talk my Dad into an iPad, if only because I want it when iPad The Next Generation comes out . . .
My parents are slowly but surely sneaking my old stuff out of their house and into mine.
They know that if they show up with a U-Haul, I won’t answer the door, so they bring shopping bags full of stuff every Thanksgiving (they live a couple states away) and hide boxes in my car when I visit them.
Bless him! It’s like Scotty trying to talk to the computer mouse (is a reference to ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’ too geeky?) – others might think it’s strange but it makes perfect sense to him… even if it’s only to wind you up.
My step-dad does the same kind of things. He can’t understand the stuff so he makes fun of it; if IT seems stupid then he doesn’t feel dumb if he can’t use it. Of course, this is the man who brought the world “Stealth Skipping” (standing on one leg, periodically changing which one, while swinging your arms around as if you’re using a skipping rope) and “The Mystery of the Shetland Goats” (apparently the Shetlands are famous for their goats “because you have to look for them”…no, honestly, that’s what he said!) – we may not exactly be working with the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he might be a bad example.
As you can see, I didn’t attempt to “first” this time. I’ve been very busy which is a great sign for my mental health progression (I’m starting to self-motivate and take on bigger tasks again) so I was really tired last night and slept to midday. I still don’t intend to let my record be beaten but, if that happens, I’ll just have to break it again.
Loving Jefbots expression progression (it’s fun to rhyme) between the three panels: normal to O_O to ¬_¬
Star Trek IV references are welcome, AdM! especially that particular one! it’s one of my favorite scenes from that film – “computer? computer…? hello computer!” heheh.
your step dad sounds pretty funny. i had no idea there was even a mystery about shetland goats! heheh. and i think my dad would like to learn how to use his laptop, but he just hasn’t put the time in to do so. i think having kids that can surf the internet for him is a much easier solution. 😉
mental health progression and getting sleep are important! at least a little more important than “firsting.” and i think your record is gonna stick around for a while, anyway. 3 times in a row was quite a feat!
and thanks! glad you liked jefbot’s emotional progression through this strip.
*chuckles* Definitely a great scene. *serious face* Of course, Spock is my first love. Well, I say “love”…
Is it wrong to like some of the New Trek actors/characters better than some of the Prime ones? ‘Cause I feel guilty admitting it but… New Chekov’s cuter and more squee-worthy, New Scotty is brilliantly insane (“Admiral Archers prize beagle” – need I say more?) and is played by SIMON PEGG, New Kirk does… not… over-act… every… scene! ¬_¬ Yeah, I have always had my issues with Shatner.
Generally, I think the New characters were done well – similar enough to be recognisable, different enough for the butterfly effect. Only hardcore Trekkies would insist that the characters looked exactly the same, but then you’d be sacrificing performance for aesthetic and it just wouldn’t work; who REALLY cares that Character X has different coloured eyes or Character Y has a different hair cut?
*ahem* Sorry. Self-confessed Trekkie, having geek-out overload.
*blushes*
Yeah, “funny” is ONE way of describing him *chuckles*
Ah, see, your dad has it sussed – by feigning ignorance, he makes you deal with things so he doesn’t have to. Cunning.
Thanks, Jeff ^_^
I hope the record does stick around *narrows eyes* until I beat it again.
*rolls eyes* Of course I do! You’re super talented! *hugs* Go you!
WOw…Angela Are you sure we’re not related? The first thing I thought of was “Hello? Computer?” We are awesome in our Geekitude! Wow Look I made up a word…. I’m on a roll!
Jeff there you go looking into my windows again. I swear My father will try to put passwords into websites he hasn’t even signed up for. Badness Bless my Sweet Old Dadums!
The funny part is eventually, my friends kids will be rolling thier eyes at me going “Auntie Pix you have to do this this and this for it to work…duh. ”
LOVE the smug look on Mombots face! I swear you just drew my Mom! And Jeffbot expressions are hysterical. You can almost hear the inner monologue.
I’ll do karaoke with you Jeff!
Putting passwords into sites he hasn’t signed up for is nothing. I don’t know if I shared this little story yet or not, but I hope not.
Not long ago, I wanted to print something. Our slow old computer is the only one with the right connection for our old but awesome printer, so I found what I wanted to print on the Mac, then was going to print it on the other computer. So what did I do? Copied the URL on the Mac, then went to the other computer and pasted! It took me a second to figure out why it didn’t work! When I did, I just about busted a gut laughing at myself. 😀
ha! thanks for sharing, Shanna. i’ve totally done similar things to that! (but don’t tell anybody.)
Yay! I have a Sister-in-Geekitude! Totally geektastic! ^_^
lots of geekitude in the comments this week! 🙂
i’m happy to have such mighty geeks such as you and Angela that would remember that scene, Pixie! i wonder if my dad’s ever seen that movie? doubtful. heheh.
and having my dad logging into random sites is just one of my fears of teaching my dad how to surf the ‘net! i’ll have to teach him all the “no-nos” of looking at webpages. rules about handing out passwords or credit card numbers will be at the top of the list.
glad you liked mombot’s expression! i had to draw that many times so as not to make her look too smug or not smug enough. was really going for “playfully smug.” 😉
pick a bar and the song and the next time i’m in your town, we’ll do some karaoke-ing!
Mugs and Jugs…Seperate Lives…It’s my show stopper.
I am my family’s resident tech geek (sort of). I point out new gadgets/tech stuff/web stuff/bla, I introduce them. so far, my parents haven’t reacted badly to any gadget. Teaching them facebook is haaaaard, though.
I wish I can make my dog roll over in pictures.
i guess i’m the resident tech geek in my family too, Jaeh. haven’t even tried getting anybody onto facebook, tho. i barely get on it myself, these days, and i don’t need family members trying to give me crops or getting me to join their mob or poking me or whatever. i wish you luck with your family, though. 🙂
Maybe we need to make sure he knows that the pictures don’t do anything you can’t MAKE them do. XD
that might help. but until they make an app that actually makes a 3D model from your photos that you can operate with voice commands, i feel Popbot will remain disappointed, DJ. 😉
“When the images respond to those commands, let me know!” BRILLIANT!
…and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until Apple makes that happen…
Excellent strip as always!
Then popbot will complain about him wasting money on a fake dog that doesn’t do anything.
thanks, Funnyshaffer! and yes, if any company can make that happen, it’s Apple. heheh. although Anime fan does have a point…
Hmm, my dad would say it doesn’t serve a purpose. Like, it doesn’t provide food, or shelter, or money. Realistic stuff.
if only the iPad could provide money, Anime fan! like an ATM, but it gives money away for free. now where’s the app for that!!? 😉
That’s for me and my highly trained assassin and hacker force to know. And for you not to. heh heh
You just can’t win JB. As we have discussed in some conversations in the the past…even if you say “It has hover capabilities and you can ride it,” people will still always want more out of it…
very true, Slave1; some will just never give themselves over to the magic.
Um… next tech challenged question… how do you pinch the screen? I amaze myself daily when I sign into Facebook! LOL.
well, it’s more of a pinching and un-pinching motion with your fingers, Alana. although real, pinchable glass will probably be in our future. 🙂
Really funny, bot! Your parents are so cute. I love the facial expressions! You’re Dad yelling at the iPod is hysterical. It reminds me of my long conversations with my Mother’s Jetta’s GPS.
thanks, man! did your mom’s GPS understand what you were saying through all the swear words? 😉
voice command interactive pictures hmm?…
i gotta get me one o’ them
*thumbs up* great job bot!
glad you liked the strip, Leithal! when the VCIP technology’s invented, i hope it obeys better than my parents’ real dog. 🙂
Now if the picture really starts moving, don’t blame the home planet for taking him seriously… XD
if the picture really started moving, i think i’d have dropped the iPad, Rinthia! well, maybe not – it might have gotten scratched. 😉
DON’T DROP THE iPAD! THAT’S HOW WE COMMUNICATE TO YOU, EARTHLINGS!!!
XD
Hmmm… Maybe modern technologies aren’t so perfect how we think they are… 😀
very, very true, Hanussen. as amazing and magical as new technology gets, we, as consumers, always want more. 🙂
…why the heck is one of the tags “Uncle Willie”? That just doesn’t make any sense. Do you have an uncle Willie or something?
we call my parents’ dog (pictured in the first panel) “Uncle Willie” cuz my mom named him after Willie Nelson, the country singer/songwriter, NeoDarklight.
And this is why I love your dad! Only he would do that the first time using an iPad. I love bot’s face in the 2nd panel, great job Jeff!
You should totally give your dad Nintendogs for Christmas.
Take that, technology!
Popbot would totally do that.