Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes true

Citation

Foley, P. (2001), "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes true", European Business Review, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2001.05413cag.001

Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes true

Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes true

In 1971 Douglas Adams lay in a field in Innsbruck, Austria thinking about the galaxy and how you might find your way around it. His solution, the Guide, was an ingenious hand-held guidebook for the intergalactic traveller.

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels grew out of a 1978 UK radio series. The novels have sold 15 million copies since 1981. Adams turned them into a TV series, a set of record albums and CD-ROMs, a computer game and several other manifestations; including an Internet company and Web site called h2g2. Douglas Adams, with chief executive Robbie Stamp and editor-in-chief Richard Creasey, founded the digital media and communications company in 1994.

The leap from fictional device to real-life business has been achieved through the participation of volunteer researchers in over 90 countries. h2g2 is an unconventional guide to life, the universe and everything. Visitors to the Web site write the guide and already it has thousands of entries on all sorts of subjects. It is based on the idea that everyone is an expert on something. The guide consists of entries written by its users on subjects ranging from the Simpsons to spoons and from railways on the Isle of Wight to the Hangar Lane Gyratory system. The only condition of submitting an entry is that contributors have to be "registered researchers" and entries must be original and factual. Visitors can also edit or comment on existing entries. The result is a guide constantly being updated, revised and driven forward by the people who use it.

The concept of building forums and communities online is not new. Community is an important part of the h2g2 business plan and the site is keen to maintain trust and a highly ethical stance. h2g2 is looking to establish a long-term relationship with benefit flowing both ways. The real novelty of the original h2g2 approach was its ability to enable access through mobile phones. This enabled people to access content wherever they are. At the beginning of 2001 mobile access was available through 22 mobile telephone operators on four continents.

Several analysts have identified the h2g2 model as the "killer Internet application". It combines "personalisation" with "localisation".

"Personalisation" will enable users' likes and dislikes to become known and bespoke content to be provided that meets these requirements. The location-specific approach is probably the more significant mobile application. Current GSM mobile technology is capable of providing location information, but operators are not set up to provide this information to third parties. The next generations of mobile telephony, general packet radio systems (GPRS) and Universal Mobile Telephony System or 3G (UMTS), which starts in 2002, will provide location information as a key part of their offering.

When a user gives permission to know where they are, the information that is suited to them can become much more specific. h2g2's mobile division plans to introduce services that are tailored to where a caller happens to be at a particular point in time. Based on what it knows about your likes and dislikes and where you are located; h2g2 will be able to suggest personalised information about your locality – cafes, pubs or restaurants to visit; galleries, shows or places to visit; and general tourism advice.

The move into a wireless environment realises the dream Douglas Adams had 30 years ago in an Innsbruck field. It was also regarded as an important avenue for the site's future development. Since writing the first draft of this article in January 2001 the BBC bought h2g2 content and software rights.

The site was re-launched in mid-March 2001 as part of BBC New Media as an "online community, where users can exchange ideas, comments and features on topics in which they have a shared interest". A BBC press release stated that the site will be a valuable research and development resource, helping its understanding of online communities at a time when it is increasing its efforts to create communities on the Web, in line with the BBC's remit as a public service. Ashley Highfield, director of New Media at the BBC, says: "The launch of www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2 represents a significant step towards 'engaging with' rather than 'broadcasting to' our consumers".

Initial information from the Web site suggests that, in line with prevailing BBC policy, mobile access will not be possible. Douglas Adams' dream of a Guide will still exist, but only if you happen to be located next to a PC. Ford Prefect would be heartbroken.

It is also currently unknown how many of the previous site's 55,000 regular members and a quarter of a million surfers will remain loyal to their new host. Delays in re-launching the site caused Angst amongst members of the Yahoo! chat group established to enable the community to continue communicating during the interregnum. This group, which commenced on 25 January, attracted about 1,000 contributions a week, while the site was inactive.

The h2g2 business model was interesting and it had a number of potential income streams to generate money. These included banner advertisements and sponsorship deals, subscription charges, call charges through mobile networks and ticket booking commission. The BBC's press release noted the corporation's role as a public service broadcaster. It will be interesting to review the emphasis that they place on income generation.

Web sites

Listed below is a selective review of Web sites that provide further details about the h2g2 Web site and chat group. Dynamic links to these pages can be found at http://www.iecrc.org/ebrh2g2.htm

The BBC home for h2g2http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/

The BBC press release concerning the acquisition of h2g2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/release.shtml

The Yahoo! chat group for h2g2 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/h2g2chat/

Paul FoleyDirector of the International Electronic Commerce Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, and Visiting Professor, School of Accounting and Information Systems, University of South Australia. E-mail: pdf@dmu.ac.uk