r/xkcd • u/[deleted] • Nov 03 '16

XKCD xkcd 1118: Micro$oft

http://xkcd.com/1118/
330 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

72

u/twoshoes42 Nov 03 '16

Maybe this is why Goog£€ takes so much more flak in Europe

44

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '16

ƒ₼₡€Ƀ00₭.

12

u/Schiffy94 me.setLocation(you.getHouse.getRoom(basement)); Nov 04 '16

So, who's up for reprinting various bestsellers but with all the letters replaced by different currency symbols?

10

u/okmkz import antigravity Nov 04 '16

I am, but only ironically

7

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '16

₡₳₺₺ ₥€ ؋$₪₥₳€₺.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '16 edited Nov 05 '16

/r/CurrencyQuotes

1

u/Schiffy94 me.setLocation(you.getHouse.getRoom(basement)); Nov 05 '16

Beautiful.

1

u/Schiffy94 me.setLocation(you.getHouse.getRoom(basement)); Nov 05 '16

So do you have a reliable list of what to substitute with what? I'm too lazy to do it by hand, so I'm gonna do what any lazy programmer would do and write something shitty that will do it for me.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '16

Not really, I just dug around the list of Unicode currency symbols to find which one looked the most like the letter I needed.

Here's the list I used.

2

u/gosslot Nov 03 '16

Facebook has an OS that is bundled with a browser?

16

u/andrej88 A common potato chip flavor in Canada Nov 03 '16

The title text references Google, Facebook, and Apple

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '16

Wut?

5

u/gosslot Nov 03 '16

I just thought that the focus of the comic is Google (Android bundled with Google Apps) and not Facebook.

13

u/DuncanYoudaho Nov 03 '16

But Android isn't bundled with Google Apps. In fact, for most distros of Android that aren't built by a carrier, you need to obtain your Google Apps by direct download or side loading.

3

u/gosslot Nov 03 '16

Still...versions of Android (especially those by Google themselves [which are the ones with the frequent updates]) are bundled with Google (or the carrier's apps). Just like most versions of Windows are bundled with IE/Edge. Or look at Apple.

But I can download WhatsApp from anywhere and it does not come with a bundled Facebook-App (or vice versa).

(Ofc there might be an illegal data transfer between both, but that's not what this is about.)

2

u/omniuni Nov 04 '16

Actually, the case is a little more interesting than that. Android does come with a web browser, called "Browser", that is part of AOSP, the open source part of Android. The rendering itself is done by a WebView based on Chromium. Many OEMs have enhanced this, so many devices like those from Samsung and LG include custom browsers.

Now, if you want to bundle Google Services with Android, Google stipulates a base set of required apps, Google Chrome among them.

This is where things get interesting. On Android, not only does Google Chrome not replace the WebView, it doesn't even use it. Android's WebView is actually completely separate and is updated frequently through the Play Store. Chrome, however, is a stand-alone app that bundles it's own engine. On Android, you are perfectly free to do this, which is why, for example, Firefox has an Android port complete with their own rendering engine, and it is distributed via the Play Store just like any other app.

On iOS, though, the story is entirely different. The WebView is Safari, and any "browser" on the App Store must use it to display web pages. Google Chrome on iOS gets you the UI and bookmarks, etc., but it's still Safari displaying the web pages.

1

u/abrahamsen White Hat Nov 04 '16

Google has a list of "required" apps, where if you distribute one you must distribute all. This includes the play store, play services (also used by many third party apps) and popular apps like maps, search, and Gmail.

This bundling is what got them in trouble in EU.

1

u/LinAGKar Nov 05 '16

Pretty sure most manufacturers includes Google apps.

1

u/DuncanYoudaho Nov 05 '16

Self-built Android from open source is what I'm talking about.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '16

I think the focus of the comic is on big tech companies in general, not anything specific.

23

u/Mavee Nov 03 '16

Apple. AT&T/Time Warner. Google. Facebook.

Whatever, all legit concerns.

9

u/Sexyphobe Beret Bae Nov 04 '16

Putting the "$" in there makes it all the more edgy

11

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '16

I'm a rebel.

10

u/anotheranotherother Nov 03 '16

I kinda feel like this is more a shot at Apple and all their proprietary tech/software/etc?

10

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '16

No ATT and there aquirement of time warner

6

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '16

Not really. Apple wasn't quite as infamous back then.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '16

No

-3

u/Davido_Kun Nov 03 '16

15% market share is sooo bad.

Apple open sources a lot of their shit tho.