xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

This strip depicts Cueball finding a video explaining how to fix the exact problem he is currently having with his humidifier.

The nature of mass-produced consumer products means that issues that come up with one unit (either due to design or manufacturing issues) are likely to show up elsewhere in products of the same line. Where these issues are major, causing safety issues or immediate lack of functionality, the product might be recalled. But it is common for products (particularly ones with complex moving parts) to develop minor issues, which aren't worth discarding the item over but which cause problems. In this case, it's "an annoying clicking sound". Such problems can cause anything from annoyance to loss of functionality, and the typical options are either to just live with the problem, try to return it (if it's within the warranty period) or just discard it. All of these put a burden on people, to one degree or another.

In many cases, these issues are due to a minor design flaw or defect, and may have a simple fix. But, since they aren't part of the intended operation, there's generally no official source information about such fixes. Some people, by examination, specialized knowledge and/or luck, are able to figure out these fixes on their own. In a pre-internet era, such knowledge was rarely spread (the odds of knowing another person with the same model of the same product having the same issue are pretty low). In modern times, though, such fixes can be posted online for anyone else who encounters the same problem.

Importantly, there's very little incentive to share such information. These fixes are obscure enough, and apply to few enough people, that maintaining such information commercially is unlikely to be profitable. Instead, such videos are generally made by individuals who figured out how to fix their own products and want to share the information. While the effort of making and posting such a video is generally minor. It is also very unlikely to generate any profit or widespread recognition, so people generally do it entirely out of a desire to help others avoid the aggravation they themselves had to go through. It is helpful but thankless work, carried out by ordinary people.

The caption states that Randall believes people who go to such effort should be commemorated with "at minimum, a statue". He acknowledges that "there's more important work in the world", but suggests that this kind of recognition is still proper. Most systems for public accolades are focused on people who do either dramatic and highly impactful work, or those who are particularly recognizable. In this case, the people involved might only affect the lives of a few people, and only in a small way, but the willingness to help strangers who they're unlikely to ever meet is a laudable thing. This might also be intended to exaggerate the frustration that many people feel when dealing with malfunctions that make major appliances worse, if not nonfunctional.

The title text carries the joke further, suggesting that, if such a statue is made, the sculptor will inevitably have problems with their tools, and will, themselves, have to turn to repair videos for advice. He suggests finding whoever made the most useful repair video and making the statue in their likeness, presumably as a symbolic representation for everyone who does so.

Thanks to this video, Cueball finds the solution to his problem easily, unlike in 979: Wisdom of the Ancients. This comic could be seen as a happier version of the events in that earlier comic, though this one concerns an appliance and the other concerns software.