screentime
Original: screentime on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (text only, on a yellow sticky-note-style background):
LIFE PRO TIP:
REDUCE YOUR SCREENTIME BY REPLACING YOUR PHONE WITH A STICK.
Panel 2:
A man at a dinner table glares across at a red-haired woman who is holding a stick under the table.
Man: ARE YOU LOOKING AT YOUR STICK UNDER THE TABLE AT DINNER AGAIN? TELL ME WHAT I WAS JUST SAYING!
Panel 3:
The red-haired woman sits in a bathroom holding her stick, looking at it. A voice calls from outside (speech bubble coming through the wall).
Voice (off-panel): YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR HALF AN HOUR! DID YOU BRING YOUR STICK IN THERE AGAIN?
Panel 4:
The woman lies in bed at night, cradling her stick, eyes open. A clock on the nightstand reads 2:00 AM.
Woman (thought bubble): JUST 2 MORE MINUTES OF STICK AND THEN I'LL SLEEP.
Votey:
A hand-drawn product ad showing a plain stick.
New! iStick
$4,000 (base price)
LIFE PRO TIP:
REDUCE YOUR SCREENTIME BY REPLACING YOUR PHONE WITH A STICK.
Panel 2:
A man at a dinner table glares across at a red-haired woman who is holding a stick under the table.
Man: ARE YOU LOOKING AT YOUR STICK UNDER THE TABLE AT DINNER AGAIN? TELL ME WHAT I WAS JUST SAYING!
Panel 3:
The red-haired woman sits in a bathroom holding her stick, looking at it. A voice calls from outside (speech bubble coming through the wall).
Voice (off-panel): YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR HALF AN HOUR! DID YOU BRING YOUR STICK IN THERE AGAIN?
Panel 4:
The woman lies in bed at night, cradling her stick, eyes open. A clock on the nightstand reads 2:00 AM.
Woman (thought bubble): JUST 2 MORE MINUTES OF STICK AND THEN I'LL SLEEP.
Votey:
A hand-drawn product ad showing a plain stick.
New! iStick
$4,000 (base price)
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic parodying phone/screen addiction by replacing the phone with a literal stick. Panel 1 is a yellow note reading 'LIFE PRO TIP: Reduce your screentime by replacing your phone with a stick.' Panel 2: a man at a dinner table angrily confronts a red-haired woman who is hiding a stick under the table, saying 'Are you looking at your stick under the table at dinner again? Tell me what I was just saying!' Panel 3: the woman sits alone in a bathroom gazing at her stick while an off-panel voice yells 'You've been in there for half an hour! Did you bring your stick in there again?' Panel 4: she lies in bed at 2:00 AM cradling the stick, thinking 'Just 2 more minutes of stick and then I'll sleep.' The joke is that swapping the phone for a stick changes nothing about the compulsive behavior. Votey: a mock product advertisement showing a plain stick labeled 'New! iStick — $4,000 (base price),' mocking overpriced tech branding.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.