While I don't have Douglas' talent, height, imagination or success, I do seem to have embraced his attitude to workflow, which is why I am here on TH-cam and not actually writing.
Douglas Adams exposed the absurdity of humanity like no one else. His work prepared me to live in a world such as this, where ridiculous people constantly demand ridiculous things whilst committing ridiculous acts in order to be utterly ridiculous to every other person.
Douglas' idea about an interactive game that you talked to and talked back to you is just now only beginning to become possible. Amazing, isn't it, that he was so far ahead of his time with his ideas. He came a little closer to that with his Starship Titanic computer game. You still had to type, but the game responded to a larger set of words, so interacting with it felt a bit more natural. It also had wonderful images and animations to it rather than a black screen with green text. I love the ending of the video with its satirical take on authors signing their books. Very funny!
He would have loved the smart watches that are on the market today. In fact I think he would have been one of the first people to buy one. So much better than the digital watches of the late 1970s.
This is fascinating! I've never seen this interview before! I found a copy of the game online about 15 years ago and got interested in the hobbyist community that's sprung up around creating brand-new Interactive Fiction games. I haven't been into it in a while, I should check up on what new things have been springing up!
The technology is now mature enough for the voice recognition audio game shown at the end. I wonder if anyone's working on that using the Radio series ?
I got stuck on that darned door in the Heart of Gold and couldn't progress, because of course there was no access to look up the solution on the internet back then.
Plus you can play the text adventure online right now at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-hitchhiker-s-guide-to-the-galaxy-game-30th-anniversary-edition 🐬🌏🤖
Douglas spent a lot of time telling interviewers how technophobic he was. I was in the room when he talked about science and liberal arts, and I literally thought he was going to admit to being a science expert - but no, it shocked me to hear him say “of course I’m an artist, and not an expert in science”. But he taught me enough concepts, or to be accurate, got me hooked into them. He was never the technophobe he claimed to be! Being the first person in England to own an Apple Mac (or the second, better ask Stephen Fry), he was an absolute tech geek that we’d recognize today on TH-cam if he were still around. Just for a moment IMAGINE him reviewing the iPad. Or Apple Vision. I still think of him every time he misses out on a new technology he had already imagined, more vividly than any of us. Then just to prove his assertion completely wrong - he dabbled in computer game DESIGN far deeper than any other writer or author or artist of his stature.
@@mattmid7012 I got all of the way to the end of Deadline, basically solved it, but couldn’t get it to end. I finally got a hint book, and found out that all I had left to do was ask Mr Baxter for a pen, and he would hand me what was the last bit of incriminating evidence. Sometimes when walking around the house and yard I imagine how it would be laid out in an infocomm game, which areas would be a distinct location with its various entrances.
@@ianjohnson8419 You got a lot further than me then. I can't recall where I got to now as it must be 30 years since I last played it but it was certainly nowhere near the end. Hope you don't come across the Grue walking in your yard at night haha.
According to some interviews there was suppose to be t-shirt "I got the babel fish" released by Infocom in 1984 as a response to people's complaints on game's difficulty. Don't know if it's true, but it got me thinking to get one for myself... to never meet anyone who gets that reference 😉
I've never seen him do an interview where the host actually gets him. They always approach him as being about as alien as someone in his books. He makes all kinds of dry jokes and they just look at him like he's just told them tomorrow's bus schedule. I would love to see him do an interview with an actual fan, or at least someone who has heard of his books prior to the two minute introduction from the producers just before the interview began.
Hello. I have a new booktube channel and have chosen a book by the magical Douglas Adams as my first reading. So, for all fellow fans - come on over, and enjoy the ride.
@@SpookiehamThe film missed out lots of good content, compressed other good content to a couple of seconds, only to fill that time with stupid extra content! The best part I remember is the Point-of-view gun ... and being invented by a woman! That was a gem of Douglas Adams' humour! I'm sure the film would have been infinitely better if Douglas Adams didn't die so young! The film was as bad compared to the books, radio and TV series as the American pilot episode of Red Dwarf was compared to the UK TV series! Danny John-Jules, when asked what he thought of the US pilot episode, replied: "You're American, what do you think of it?" and the response: "It was crap!" nailed it!
While I don't have Douglas' talent, height, imagination or success, I do seem to have embraced his attitude to workflow, which is why I am here on TH-cam and not actually writing.
how are you doing right now
...or now?
2:04 "Douglas Adams has had a rather short life" Damn, they turned out to be right about that.
Ooof
yes but he was very, very, very tall.
Douglas Adams exposed the absurdity of humanity like no one else. His work prepared me to live in a world such as this, where ridiculous people constantly demand ridiculous things whilst committing ridiculous acts in order to be utterly ridiculous to every other person.
And it just keeps on getting worse
Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
It's fascinating that voice control of games in the way Douglas Adams envisioned it in that interview never really happened, even 37 years later.
You have to take a step back and ask yourself why you'd actually want that.
chatgpt in 2023 saves the day
Douglas' idea about an interactive game that you talked to and talked back to you is just now only beginning to become possible. Amazing, isn't it, that he was so far ahead of his time with his ideas.
He came a little closer to that with his Starship Titanic computer game. You still had to type, but the game responded to a larger set of words, so interacting with it felt a bit more natural. It also had wonderful images and animations to it rather than a black screen with green text.
I love the ending of the video with its satirical take on authors signing their books. Very funny!
He would have loved the smart watches that are on the market today. In fact I think he would have been one of the first people to buy one. So much better than the digital watches of the late 1970s.
This is fascinating! I've never seen this interview before! I found a copy of the game online about 15 years ago and got interested in the hobbyist community that's sprung up around creating brand-new Interactive Fiction games. I haven't been into it in a while, I should check up on what new things have been springing up!
The technology is now mature enough for the voice recognition audio game shown at the end. I wonder if anyone's working on that using the Radio series ?
Still such a great fan of this series. I had the original Mac game.
I got stuck on that darned door in the Heart of Gold and couldn't progress, because of course there was no access to look up the solution on the internet back then.
Plus you can play the text adventure online right now at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-hitchhiker-s-guide-to-the-galaxy-game-30th-anniversary-edition
🐬🌏🤖
Douglas spent a lot of time telling interviewers how technophobic he was. I was in the room when he talked about science and liberal arts, and I literally thought he was going to admit to being a science expert - but no, it shocked me to hear him say “of course I’m an artist, and not an expert in science”. But he taught me enough concepts, or to be accurate, got me hooked into them.
He was never the technophobe he claimed to be! Being the first person in England to own an Apple Mac (or the second, better ask Stephen Fry), he was an absolute tech geek that we’d recognize today on TH-cam if he were still around.
Just for a moment IMAGINE him reviewing the iPad. Or Apple Vision. I still think of him every time he misses out on a new technology he had already imagined, more vividly than any of us.
Then just to prove his assertion completely wrong - he dabbled in computer game DESIGN far deeper than any other writer or author or artist of his stature.
If only there had been an Apple watch around in 2001 that could have warned him about the fact he was about to have heart attack.
Deep Thought's description was inspired by the Commodore PET.
I played this on the Commodore 64 and it was fiendishly difficult, surely among the most challenging and creative of the Infocom games.
You forgot to mention it is also hilarious.
The Babelfish puzzle was one of the best (and most exasperating) of any Infocom game.
Ah Infocom, spent so many hours playing their adventure games. Deadline was one I never managed to get anywhere with!
@@mattmid7012 I got all of the way to the end of Deadline, basically solved it, but couldn’t get it to end. I finally got a hint book, and found out that all I had left to do was ask Mr Baxter for a pen, and he would hand me what was the last bit of incriminating evidence.
Sometimes when walking around the house and yard I imagine how it would be laid out in an infocomm game, which areas would be a distinct location with its various entrances.
@@ianjohnson8419 You got a lot further than me then. I can't recall where I got to now as it must be 30 years since I last played it but it was certainly nowhere near the end. Hope you don't come across the Grue walking in your yard at night haha.
According to some interviews there was suppose to be t-shirt "I got the babel fish" released by Infocom in 1984 as a response to people's complaints on game's difficulty. Don't know if it's true, but it got me thinking to get one for myself... to never meet anyone who gets that reference 😉
Very nice footage of a beautiful old Neve console in great condition!
I've never seen him do an interview where the host actually gets him. They always approach him as being about as alien as someone in his books. He makes all kinds of dry jokes and they just look at him like he's just told them tomorrow's bus schedule. I would love to see him do an interview with an actual fan, or at least someone who has heard of his books prior to the two minute introduction from the producers just before the interview began.
Man, I remember playing this game when I was a child. It was so frustrating!
It's a crazy game, so you must come up with crazy solutions, think outside the box.
Echo, open the exit hatch!
If you can find a way to run it, don't miss on Starship Titanic, along the same vein with Terry Jones.😁Play On
Deep Thought said that the Earth project would take 10 million years. Then why does the manual indicate 4.5 billion years in the TV series?
You should email someone and complain. Let them have it.
Hello. I have a new booktube channel and have chosen a book by the magical Douglas Adams as my first reading.
So, for all fellow fans - come on over, and enjoy the ride.
Hunter S. Thompson 6'3"
5:30 genius
Douglas, you went far too soon.
The film came out in 2004
Which was utterly dire compared to the original BBC TV series
@@SpookiehamThe film missed out lots of good content, compressed other good content to a couple of seconds, only to fill that time with stupid extra content!
The best part I remember is the Point-of-view gun ... and being invented by a woman! That was a gem of Douglas Adams' humour!
I'm sure the film would have been infinitely better if Douglas Adams didn't die so young!
The film was as bad compared to the books, radio and TV series as the American pilot episode of Red Dwarf was compared to the UK TV series!
Danny John-Jules, when asked what he thought of the US pilot episode, replied:
"You're American, what do you think of it?"
and the response:
"It was crap!"
nailed it!
Is Douglas really 33 here?
He was born in '52 so yes.
@@karohemd2426 he looks 52, never mind being born in ‘52
It was the early 80's everyone looked old
@@thebadgamer1967 I was 25 and probably looked younger than I was, certainly not older.
@@kellydalstok8900 sure
He was only 3 centimeters taller than my son, not exceptionally tall where I’m from.
your son should fight him