As "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" nears its cinematic release, the BBC has launched a new service based on the novel's central concept: a mobile device filled with information about life, the universe and everything.
H2G2 offers articles on a broad range of topics, from "The Simpsons" to "How Soap Works."
Entries are submitted and edited by users, and are accessible from Web-enabled mobile phones or other devices that are directed to the H2G2 mobile Web site (http:www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/h2g2).
"When I originally described The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, over 20 years ago, I was only joking," author Douglas Adams said in a posting on the site before his death in 2001.
"The Guide was compiled by researchers roaming round the galaxy, beaming their copy in, which was then instantly available to anybody to read. But it turns out that I, inadvertently, had a terribly good idea."
H2G2 -- short for "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with two H's and two G's -- was founded by Adams in 1999 and taken over by the BBC, Britain's publicly funded broadcaster, in 2001.
The mobile version was launched this month to tie in with the "Hitchhiker's" movie, which premieres this week.
Douglas' concept of an all-encompassing storehouse of knowledge written by its own users predated Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopaedia that recently received backing from Yahoo.
Wikipedia allows anyone to make changes to entries but relies on a final review by a core team of about 1,000 users. Similarly, the BBC has the final say over what appears on H2G2, according to Ashley Highfield, Director of BBC New Media & Technology.
"Anyone who goes badly off piste, being offensive, racist, or defamatory, the community picks it up quickly," he said in an interview. "As a stopgap, the final authority is with the BBC, but it's amazing how little is needed."
