• dragonfly@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        They are stereotypical nerds, and therefore have stereotypical nerd voices. Think Urkel or Professor Frink. Most people find the sound of their own recorded voice to be weird. In this case, the humor is that he actually has a weird voice. I think the humor in this one hit better 40 years ago. Also, a lot of Far Side humor isn’t haha funny, but more like, “Wut?”

      • spinnetrouble@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        It’s a feature! A lot of Far Side comics don’t really land, tons don’t make any sense to anyone, and the rest are what made it a classic. It’s not necessarily you missing a joke, it’s just a very weird comic.

        In this panel, the two guys are surprised at how absolutely weird one of their voices sounds on a recording. Meanwhile, one of them is wearing pants with like an extra mile of fabric in the legs, and the other is wearing pants so short, they make him look like a cannonball with feet.

        • jrs100000@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Its kind of topical as well. In the 80s tape recorders were just becoming a common technology and ordinary people were recording and playing back their own voices at home for the first time. The fact that our voices sound different to ourselves was something that many people were just becoming aware of.

            • jrs100000@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Tape recorders were common in studios and high end home audio systems by the 70s. They were not common in the average household until the 80s. In particular, equipment that could both record and play back audio tape was expensive and uncommon in a home setting until the mid 80s.

              • dragonfly@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                1 year ago

                I was a teenager in the 80s, lived in a very small town, not wealthy at all. Tape recorders were common.

                  • dragonfly@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Yes? When this comic was made, they were common. Panasonic came out with their first compact recorder in 1967, and there was a booming business for them throughout the 70s. Lots of people had them. These compact types were probably thought of as somewhat novel in the early 70s, but were widely available by 1980. The reel to reel shown in the comic has been around a lot longer.