The parallels between The Hitchhiker's Guide (as found in Adams' original BBC radio series and novels) and Wikipedia are so striking, it's a wonder that the author's rabid fans don't think he invented time travel. Since its editor was perennially out to lunch, the Guide was amended "by any passing stranger who happened to wander into the empty offices on an afternoon and saw something worth doing." This anonymous group effort ends up outselling Encyclopedia Galactica even though "it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate."Interesting way to look at it, to say the least.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Wikipedia = Hitchhiker's Guide to Earth?
An interesting article on Slate.com compares Wikipedia to the famous creaton of Douglas Adams that we all know and love. (or at least we should!)
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2 comments:
That is pretty cool. Now if only we could get wiki in a portable hand held device specifically for that...I would prolly buy one...
They should even work out a deal with whoever owns the rights to Douglas's work and sell something called like the Hitchhiker's Guide that plugs in like a palm to update but is cheaper than a palm.
Oh and I wanted to post the letters
krskz
You can actually use a program called Tome Raider to download Wikipedia to a Palm. It takes a ridiculous amount of space, though.
Gotta love the letters!
xxsqjsv
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