xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

The Amazon Kindle is a device that allows people to read books via ebook format. The comic was published three weeks after Amazon released the Kindle 2, which included the ability to read Wikipedia articles via the 3G connection that was included with the device.

Cueball remarks that "ebooks are for chumps", but goes on to explain the real reason for purchasing a Kindle. Since it has free cellular web access, he could navigate through any city (presumably with 3G access), assisted by Wikipedia and Wikitravel.

Megan believes she has heard such a description of a device before and snatches the Kindle away from Cueball. When she scratches off the Amazon Kindle logo at the top of the device she reveals that the device is actually The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This fictional electronic encyclopedia is described in the real-life franchise of the same name. Those works recount the tale of a travel editor who works for and owns a copy of the Guide, which provides travel tips throughout the galaxy, including an entry for Earth. The comic suggests that Amazon simply re-brands copies of the Guide as Kindles.

The title text refers to the great utility of having the ability to access Wikipedia for free on an easy-to-carry device. The speaker states that should this utility ever become disabled, he would stage a drunk protest on the lawn of Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon.com. This method of protest is used by the protagonist of the Hitchhiker's series, in the beginning of the first book, in an attempt to prevent his house from being demolished, by lying in front of the bulldozer (in vain).

Amazon warned customers using 1st and 2nd generation Kindles in 2021 that 3G connectivity will cease to work, because network operators are upgrading their networks from 3G to 4G. Since this is not Amazon's fault, a drunk protest doesn't seem appropriate.