Where Sci-Fi Meets The Net

You won't find anything about the Forbidden City or the Great Wall in the section on China, but the guide does contain useful advice about navigating the Beijing subway and bus systems. It also contains tips on drinking in Australian pubs (never leave your glass on the bar upside down unless you're prepared to duke it out with everyone in the place) and on early-morning bird watching in Sydney. And where else could you learn to navigate your way between two locations in Antarctica? "From personal experience gained while drunk and freezing, I would like to mention that if one is returning to McMurdo Station following a party at Scott Base, the road is the fastest, warmest and most direct way back to town," says an entry from Tim Smith. "Never stray from the trails--there are snow-covered crevasses concealed on each side, and people have died falling into them."

Adams thinks the beauty of the Web is that "people can add to the guide, argue with it, correct it--it's more like a real conversation, so you can trust what is on it." The global travel industry is starting to take a leaf from Adams' book, preparing to offer up its own, more staid travel guides via mobile phones. For example, Thomas Cook, a global travel agency formed in 1831, recently started offering guides to the top 25 tourist destinations via wireless application protocol (WAP) mobile phones, and plans to add international rail, ferry and bus schedules. Eventually, it may start targeting niche communities of mobile-phone users such as snowboarders or golfers with tailored mobile-phone services, says Richard Roberts, head of mobile commerce at Thomas Cook's London headquarters. "The principle of getting feedback, engaging in conversations and the creation of community interest is exactly the right thing we should be facilitating," Roberts says. If Adams and travel-industry gurus are right, wireless Internet phones will increasingly be used by people to make entries or access guides while at ski slopes, golf courses, holiday resorts and restaurants. And before long, their views and tips will be instantly available to everyone on Earth, just as they were to the fictional galactic hitchhikers in Adams' books.