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[orichalcum]

Ack! It's happened! It's actually happened!

From the NYTimes, on the Ars Electronica conference:

"Even the cafe here was interactive: Hisako Yamakawa had a tea dispenser in which one deposits a euro. A screen lights up and asks you to sign a promise to enjoy the tea and drink it all, and the signature then determines the exact blend."

Does anyone else have horrific childhood memories of the Infocom game?
I live in a world where I can sign promises to enjoy my tea and have to sign a voting promise to hear my President speak in person. And yet, I don't have a flying car.

Comments

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's...words cannot describe it. I just boggle.

And I don't know the game, but I too want a flying car. Or at least one of those hover-skateboard things from Back to the Future...

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I just want computing devices with thought control that are powered off my magnetic field. Is that so much to ask?

[statisticalfool.livejournal.com]

Here's a java version of it:

http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html

It's very very funny. Unfortunately, even by the difficult standards of the interactive fiction genre, this game has some nearly impossible puzzles: if you get stuck on the Babelfish puzzle, just don't worry about it, find a walkthrough.

In fact, you can enjoy the game very much by just opening up a walkthrough and going through it, if mucking around doesn't quite suit your style.

[statisticalfool.livejournal.com]

Alas, it doesn't seem to be working, and I can't find any of the other places I'd expect it to be.

[darkforge.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should put it on my web site... I've already got two others up there.

[statisticalfool.livejournal.com]

I can't get to the Underdogs at work, but I don't think it's linked there anymore: this means that when Radio 4 grabbed it for publishing an updated version, they probably asked people to take their free copies down.

Just speculation though.