I don't think anybody would argue now that the Internet isn't becoming a major factor in our lives. However, it's very new to us. Newsreaders still feel it is worth a special and rather worrying mention if, for instance, a crime was planned by peopleover the Internet.
People wanted me to do a CD-ROM ofHitchhiker's,and I thought,No, no.I didn't want to just sort of reverse-engineer yet another thing from a book I'd already written. I think that the digital media are interesting enough in their own right to be worth originating something in.
There's nothing worse than sitting down to write a novel and saying,Well, okay, I'm going to do something of high artistic worth.
A fine glass vase goes from treasure to trash, the moment it is broken. Fortunately, something else happens to you and me. Pick up your pieces. Then, help me gather mine.