Re: HHG2
>Has Apple got anywhere with the Electronic Thumb yet?
Not yet, but Uber and Lyft have.
It's also worth noting that the Dynabook and the IBM-branded tablet from Kubrick's 2001 (1968) predate the HHGTTG. Douglas Adams died before playing with an iPod, let alone an iPhone.
If you want to go further back, HG Wells pushed for a global encyclopedia (which is effectivily what the HHGTTG is) in the thirties, though he took a step back from it because he thought his political views wouldn't help the project.:
In 1936, before the Royal Institution, Wells called for the compilation of a constantly growing and changing World Encyclopaedia, to be reviewed by outstanding authorities and made accessible to every human being. In 1938, he published a collection of essays on the future organisation of knowledge and education, World Brain, including the essay, "The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopaedia".
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells#Writer
- http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/hg-wells-author-who-imaged-a-future-based-on-scientific-achie/7463446
Biting the hand that feeds IT
