h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Having read this article my first thought was "What a great idea!". My second thought, however, was "What a great idea!". After having the same thought several times I decided I had to break the cycle, unless I wanted to spend all day staring at a screen.
The only problem I see with this is that we will be paying for the privelige of reading what we have written.
I may be missing the point here but how do TDV expect to make a profit unless they make H2G2 a 'pay per view' type service (if they only do this with these mobile units surely people would just use palm/lap tops to access The Guide - negating any profits).
Am I being foolish here?
All that said, I would pay for access if I had to (you're not supposed to admit that, are you ).

h2g2 on the web will *always* be free, so you'll always be able to surf the content without incurring a charge over the normal access charges that everyone incurs somewhere along the line. (We might charge for enhanced functionality, but there are no plans to do so yet.)

The On the Move service, though, is a service like every other mobile phone service, and depending on the business model charges will have to be made. Not without permission, though...

We are, after all, a business.

From those storyboards I get the feeling that this would be an ideal service for those on holiday, not enough to do, or who've done all they need to and can relax for massive stretches at a go. I'm sure this time is coming; this was the promise held out by the nature of computerisation in the early days of the data age/electronic evolution for poeple, as well as near the turn of the 20th century: that technology would loose us from the tether of endless toil and we could all live according to our own desires, with lots of leisure time.

So far, most of us - especially those working in IT - are putting in far too many hours at something which, while we might derive tremendous pleasure from it, is robbing us of our social intercourse (being with people other than IT professionals....like our children, or friends....), making us crazy from insane deadlines and social stress levels and the cost of living in general.

Having the service in the first place is a wonderful thing. I'm wondering about the society that evolves around the speculation, as NOTHING that's been expected to come from technology has happened as expected: mobile phones were supposed to be liberating and convenient. Now they're mostly a nuisance to others and create an electronic tether for their owners, until the unit is turned off.
Computers were supposed to eliminate the need for paper documentation. Today, more paper than ever is generated because of too many unstable computer-systems and the need to back everything up in triplicate in case of a system-crash.

I do suspect, though, that this stage of societal evolution is transitory - though getting through it is going to take some time, and there will be plenty of turbulence along the way.

That's all I can think of at the moment

Fruitbat