Husband Book comes home from work and catches Wife Book drinking wine and smooching on the couch….with a Kindle! There is indeed a dust jacket on the floor, since it is pink it probably is the one Wife was wearing. At first I thought that it is bad enough to catch Wife in the act of cheating, but, with a Kindle!!! Then I realized that it is probably just that Kindle is much younger than Husband and Wife.
Actually, I think it’s an iPad. But yes, that’s the primary joke: the wife isn’t just fooling around, she’s fooling around with an electronic device. The dust jacket is a nice touch, though.
I’m just curious. How can you tell that is an iPad and not a Kindle?
I don’t have either one. It looks a lot like my tablet, a Samsung Android. Except for the arms and legs.
Mona, does that make her a BILF?
Uh, has nobody noticed that the ipad is black? Racist cartoon!
B.A., you’d probably know the answer to that one.
Singapore Bill, the fact that it was a Kindle and not a book, my first thought was that books would NEVER associate with a Kindle, no matter the color.
Mona: Well, it could be a different kind of tablet than an iPad. Kindles are narrower than that.
It looks like my Kindle. I always get the small cheap one that fits in your pocket.
There is a single physical “home” button centered below the screen. Not definitive, but suggests iPad.
Mona, your Android tablet doesn’t have arms and legs? I mean, it’s supposed to be an ANDROID for pity sake. Are you sure it doesn’t wait until you leave the room to get up and scoot around and throw itself under the sofa?
A Kindle makes more sense, being a younger version of a book. On a side note, I know it’s an old comic standard but does anyone carry a briefcase to and from work anymore?
padraig, hmm, you may be right.
At my previous place of employment, that last time I needed a new computer I convinced Boss to get me a laptop. Not as slim and compact as they are these days. I carried it back and forth every day in a briefcase. I could work from home if I was sick, or if there was too much snow or flooding to get to work.
My initial reaction was the general consensus- she was going for a “younger” model…but Singapore Bill made me lol with his observation.
Mona- I don’t know how old you are, but I am 52 and hubby is 55. We went to high school together and his senior year (1979-80) was my freshman year- and the first year for computer classes available to students.
By 1988 he was manager of the accounting department of a natural gas utility. It was an absolute revolution when he could bring a computer home to get work done. It was a 30 pound “portable” Compaq he would have to haul home on the train. Looked like a suitcase and had a full size keyboard built into the bottom and a dinky screen. We sat there amazed at the thing and imagining people working from home on a regular basis…
What did yellow jacket expect? A steamy romance novel could never be content with a dry business tome. The Kindle/iPad/Android/Kobo can offer endless variety, and even a choice of positions (well, two anyway).
It does look more like an iPad, although I understand new iPads will be dispensing with “home”.
So why is the Kindle turned off? She must not be much of a turn-on for him – I think he’s faking it.
I think the detail of Kindle vs. iPad vs. Nook vs. Android Tablet vs. (insert other e-reader or tablet here) is irrelevant. The wife is fooling around with the younger model. Husband Book has gotten too old.
The approximate 4:3 aspect ratio and the round button suggest iPad, but to the best of my knowledge, Apple has never offered an iPad with a grey bezel (the bezel is lighter than the illuminated screen(), only black or white.
Android tablets come in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios (and variations) and may or may not have a physical “home” button or fingerprint reader at the bottom of the bezel (the home function may be implemented on the screen). In particular, Samsung and Asus seem opt for physical home buttons. However, I can’t ever remember seeing an Android tablet with a ROUND button. On the other hand, Samsung is the one vendor I can think of to offer a tablet with a grey bezel and a home button (just not a round one).
An Amazon Kindle e-ink-based e-reader would never have a screen that dark, nor do they have a button on the bottom of the bezel.
Amazon no longer uses the “Kindle” branding on its tablets, calling them “Fire tablets” rather “Kindle Fire” devices. They are mostly more 16:9-ish devices, but the 8″ is a more squarish 1280×800. But there is no physical home button, and bezels should be black.
Let’s just call it a tablet.
As for the joke, I’m torn if the joke is that the husband book is aghast that his wife is having an affair with a younger man or because she is having an affair with the enemy. I suspect it is supposed to be both.
Not only are tree and ja both correct in saying that the exact identity of the electronic device is irrelevant, I think the uncertainty is intentional. Clearly, the artist could have reproduced an image much more faithfully, but establishing an exact model identity would undermine the point of the conflict, which is “books versus electronics“, and not “books versus one particular (best or favorite) model“.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Husband Book comes home from work and catches Wife Book drinking wine and smooching on the couch….with a Kindle! There is indeed a dust jacket on the floor, since it is pink it probably is the one Wife was wearing. At first I thought that it is bad enough to catch Wife in the act of cheating, but, with a Kindle!!! Then I realized that it is probably just that Kindle is much younger than Husband and Wife.
Actually, I think it’s an iPad. But yes, that’s the primary joke: the wife isn’t just fooling around, she’s fooling around with an electronic device. The dust jacket is a nice touch, though.
I’m just curious. How can you tell that is an iPad and not a Kindle?
I don’t have either one. It looks a lot like my tablet, a Samsung Android. Except for the arms and legs.
Mona, does that make her a BILF?
Uh, has nobody noticed that the ipad is black? Racist cartoon!
B.A., you’d probably know the answer to that one.
Singapore Bill, the fact that it was a Kindle and not a book, my first thought was that books would NEVER associate with a Kindle, no matter the color.
Mona: Well, it could be a different kind of tablet than an iPad. Kindles are narrower than that.
It looks like my Kindle. I always get the small cheap one that fits in your pocket.
There is a single physical “home” button centered below the screen. Not definitive, but suggests iPad.
Mona, your Android tablet doesn’t have arms and legs? I mean, it’s supposed to be an ANDROID for pity sake. Are you sure it doesn’t wait until you leave the room to get up and scoot around and throw itself under the sofa?
A Kindle makes more sense, being a younger version of a book. On a side note, I know it’s an old comic standard but does anyone carry a briefcase to and from work anymore?
padraig, hmm, you may be right.
At my previous place of employment, that last time I needed a new computer I convinced Boss to get me a laptop. Not as slim and compact as they are these days. I carried it back and forth every day in a briefcase. I could work from home if I was sick, or if there was too much snow or flooding to get to work.
My initial reaction was the general consensus- she was going for a “younger” model…but Singapore Bill made me lol with his observation.
Mona- I don’t know how old you are, but I am 52 and hubby is 55. We went to high school together and his senior year (1979-80) was my freshman year- and the first year for computer classes available to students.
By 1988 he was manager of the accounting department of a natural gas utility. It was an absolute revolution when he could bring a computer home to get work done. It was a 30 pound “portable” Compaq he would have to haul home on the train. Looked like a suitcase and had a full size keyboard built into the bottom and a dinky screen. We sat there amazed at the thing and imagining people working from home on a regular basis…
What did yellow jacket expect? A steamy romance novel could never be content with a dry business tome. The Kindle/iPad/Android/Kobo can offer endless variety, and even a choice of positions (well, two anyway).
It does look more like an iPad, although I understand new iPads will be dispensing with “home”.
So why is the Kindle turned off? She must not be much of a turn-on for him – I think he’s faking it.
I think the detail of Kindle vs. iPad vs. Nook vs. Android Tablet vs. (insert other e-reader or tablet here) is irrelevant. The wife is fooling around with the younger model. Husband Book has gotten too old.
The approximate 4:3 aspect ratio and the round button suggest iPad, but to the best of my knowledge, Apple has never offered an iPad with a grey bezel (the bezel is lighter than the illuminated screen(), only black or white.
Android tablets come in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios (and variations) and may or may not have a physical “home” button or fingerprint reader at the bottom of the bezel (the home function may be implemented on the screen). In particular, Samsung and Asus seem opt for physical home buttons. However, I can’t ever remember seeing an Android tablet with a ROUND button. On the other hand, Samsung is the one vendor I can think of to offer a tablet with a grey bezel and a home button (just not a round one).
An Amazon Kindle e-ink-based e-reader would never have a screen that dark, nor do they have a button on the bottom of the bezel.
Amazon no longer uses the “Kindle” branding on its tablets, calling them “Fire tablets” rather “Kindle Fire” devices. They are mostly more 16:9-ish devices, but the 8″ is a more squarish 1280×800. But there is no physical home button, and bezels should be black.
Let’s just call it a tablet.
As for the joke, I’m torn if the joke is that the husband book is aghast that his wife is having an affair with a younger man or because she is having an affair with the enemy. I suspect it is supposed to be both.
Not only are tree and ja both correct in saying that the exact identity of the electronic device is irrelevant, I think the uncertainty is intentional. Clearly, the artist could have reproduced an image much more faithfully, but establishing an exact model identity would undermine the point of the conflict, which is “books versus electronics“, and not “books versus one particular (best or favorite) model“.