🕷️ Crawler Inspector

- [Archive](https://xkcd.com/archive) - [What If?](https://what-if.xkcd.com/) - [About](https://xkcd.com/about) - [Feed](https://xkcd.com/atom.xml)•[Email](https://xkcd.com/newsletter/) - [TW](https://twitter.com/xkcd/)•[FB](https://www.facebook.com/TheXKCD/)•[IG](https://www.instagram.com/xkcd/) - [\-Books-](https://xkcd.com/books/) - [What If? 2](https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/) - [WI?](https://xkcd.com/what-if/)•[TE](https://xkcd.com/thing-explainer/)•[HT](https://xkcd.com/how-to/) [](https://xkcd.com/) A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. We're pleased to announce a major update to xkcd, with new reading modes to enhance user experience. Select a mode via the menu below the comic. Brought to you by our excellent design team: [Amber](https://github.com/ayust), [Benjamin Staffin](https://github.com/benley), and [Kevin](https://github.com/cotrone). Standards - [\|\<](https://xkcd.com/1/) - [\< Prev](https://xkcd.com/926/) - [Random](https://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/) - [Next \>](https://xkcd.com/928/) - [\>\|](https://xkcd.com/)  - [\|\<](https://xkcd.com/1/) - [\< Prev](https://xkcd.com/926/) - [Random](https://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/) - [Next \>](https://xkcd.com/928/) - [\>\|](https://xkcd.com/) Permanent link to this comic: [https://xkcd.com/927/](https://xkcd.com/927) Image URL (for hotlinking/embedding): <https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png> HOW STANDARDS PROLIFERATE (See: A C chargers, character encodings, instant messaging, etc.) SITUATION: There are 14 competing standards. Geek: 14?! Ridiculous! We need to develop one universal standard that covers everyone's use cases. Fellow Geek: Yeah! Soon: SITUATION: There are 15 competing standards. {{Title text: Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? Shit.}}  [](https://xkcd.com/1732/) [RSS Feed](https://xkcd.com/rss.xml) - [Atom Feed](https://xkcd.com/atom.xml) - [Email](https://xkcd.com/newsletter/) Comics I enjoy: [Three Word Phrase](http://threewordphrase.com/), [SMBC](https://www.smbc-comics.com/), [Dinosaur Comics](https://www.qwantz.com/), [Oglaf](https://oglaf.com/) (nsfw), [A Softer World](https://www.asofterworld.com/), [Buttersafe](https://buttersafe.com/), [Perry Bible Fellowship](https://pbfcomics.com/), [Questionable Content](https://questionablecontent.net/), [Buttercup Festival](http://www.buttercupfestival.com/), [Homestuck](https://www.homestuck.com/), [Junior Scientist Power Hour](https://www.jspowerhour.com/) Other things: [Tips on technology and government](https://medium.com/civic-tech-thoughts-from-joshdata/so-you-want-to-reform-democracy-7f3b1ef10597), [Climate FAQ](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/climate/what-is-climate-change.html), [Katharine Hayhoe](https://twitter.com/KHayhoe) xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing. This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/). This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). [More details](https://xkcd.com/license.html).

 [](https://xkcd.com/1732/) Comics I enjoy: [Three Word Phrase](http://threewordphrase.com/), [SMBC](https://www.smbc-comics.com/), [Dinosaur Comics](https://www.qwantz.com/), [Oglaf](https://oglaf.com/) (nsfw), [A Softer World](https://www.asofterworld.com/), [Buttersafe](https://buttersafe.com/), [Perry Bible Fellowship](https://pbfcomics.com/), [Questionable Content](https://questionablecontent.net/), [Buttercup Festival](http://www.buttercupfestival.com/), [Homestuck](https://www.homestuck.com/), [Junior Scientist Power Hour](https://www.jspowerhour.com/) xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing. This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/). This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). [More details](https://xkcd.com/license.html).