1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"Hitchhiker’s is hard to summarize, but one of its overarching themes is that technology, in the hands of big business and bloated bureaucracies, does not make life better: in fact it makes it far, far worse."

Seems Adams was ahead of his time, I wonder what he would have thought if he were alive today given the antics of Google, Facebook et al.

Incidentally, my printer is called Marvin for obvious reasons (Adams almost mandated that name for these cantankerous devices, especially networked ones).

Re: 1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

#6

Post by alexandargyurov » Thu, Apr 08, 2021, 1:23 PM UTC

Great article. I would definitely recommend checking out 42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams[0] edited by Kevin Jon Davies if want more Douglas Adams in your life

[0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unbounders/42-the-wildl...

Re: 1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

#7

Post by Stitch4223 » Thu, Apr 08, 2021, 1:26 PM UTC

acheron wrote: post #2

You are carrying: no tea

give croissant

Re: 1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

#8

Post by fullshark » Thu, Apr 08, 2021, 1:28 PM UTC

You can play the game here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN...

Re: 1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

#9

Post by WaitWaitWha » Thu, Apr 08, 2021, 1:28 PM UTC

>overarching themes is that technology, in the hands of big business and bloated bureaucracies, does not make life better: in fact it makes it far, far worse.

That is not what I got out of the radio series and book. In my opinion, it is rigidity, legalism, or by the letter vs spirit of the law what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy warns against. This fits with the author's initial dislike of computers. The Vogon's are a perfect example.

Re: 1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

#10

Post by mckirk » Thu, Apr 08, 2021, 1:30 PM UTC

hilbert42 wrote: post #5

"Hitchhiker’s is hard to summarize, but one of its overarching themes is that technology, in the hands of big business and bloated bureaucracies, does not make life better: in fact it makes it far, far worse." Seems Adams was ahead of his time, I wonder what he would have thought if he were alive today given the antics of Google, Facebook et al. Incidentally, my printer is called Marvin for obvious reasons (Adams alm…

Given how heavily Adams struggled with procrastination, I wonder how he'd have fared in today's distractopia... he might not've gotten around to writing much. But what I wouldn't give to have him still around even just for the occasional quip.