Douglas Adams: 1952 - 2001

Adams was the creator of the cult science fiction series the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life as a radio play, became a 'trilogy' of five books and then a memorable TV series - who could forget that second wobbly papier maché head that Zaphod Beeblebrox carried on his shoulder?

I had the pleasure of meeting Adams last year when he came to the silicon.com studios to talk about the next stage in the Hitchhiker's multimedia lifecycle, and the transformation of the Guide from science fiction into fact in the shape of a portal.

A larger than life character (and he really was large), he modestly claimed any modern day developments which seem to be based on his work are purely accidental, claiming he never set out to be a predictive sci-fi writer.

But he was a fan of modern technology, and with the emergence of WAP phones he was quick to identify parallels with the Guide, and the potential of the medium.

Adams set up a website (http://www.h2g2.com ) that accepted contributions from anyone, anywhere in the world, which could be accessed through a mobile phone. He hoped it would eventually store a wealth of information about any subject on Earth.

Technology has come a long way since the days of the TV series - particularly with special effects. But Adams was never critical of the low budget props used for the BBC TV series, and always insisted they were "excellent for their time". However, he did admit that while Zaphod's head worked perfectly in rehearsal, it went slightly wobbly when the cameras were rolling.

The special effects will look starkly amateurish when the grand finale of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes out - the blockbuster movie from Disney.

In his sunny residence in California, Adams was busy watching over the scriptwriters. He enthused about the advantages of living and working in Santa Barbara rather than in his former home in Islington, London. But his attention to the bizarre meant he couldn't miss the state's apparent backwardness in technology connections.

He pointed out the madness of drivers trying to overcome the patchy mobile phone coverage down the Californian freeways. "Cars speed between patches in coverage and slow down as soon they get any reception - it's an accident waiting to happen," he said.

To watch the interview with Douglas Adams that was first published on silicon.com last year, click on the link above.