punishment
Explanation
The Joke
In this single-panel comic, a demon in Hell is showing a bound man his punishment: another person sitting at a computer. The caption reads, "He's using software you're very familiar with, but he doesn't know a single hotkey." The premise is that the torment of Hell is not physical pain or fire, but the excruciating experience of watching someone use software inefficiently. The man is literally tied up and forced to watch someone navigate software the slow way -- using menus, clicking through multiple dialog boxes, and generally doing everything the hard way -- while being completely unable to intervene.
The comic taps into a very specific modern frustration that nearly anyone who has become proficient with a piece of software can relate to. Once you know that Ctrl+C copies, Ctrl+Z undoes, or that Alt+Tab switches windows, watching someone laboriously right-click and select "Copy" from a context menu or reach for the Edit menu feels almost physically painful. The idea that this would constitute eternal damnation suggests just how deeply this annoyance runs.
The Humor
The humor works on multiple levels. First, there is the absurd juxtaposition of the grandiose concept of Hell -- eternal suffering, demons, fire and brimstone -- with the utterly mundane irritation of watching someone use a computer inefficiently. Second, it plays on the powerlessness of the situation: the man is bound and cannot simply lean over and say, "Just press Ctrl+S!" The specific genius of making it software "you're very familiar with" amplifies the torture, because if it were unfamiliar software, you would not know the shortcuts either and would feel no frustration. The punishment is precisely calibrated to maximize the agony of expertise rendered helpless.