Slopfest #53 · 1979 · Vienna
The Answer Is 42
A supercomputer thought for 7.5 million years and said 42. Our program committee took a similar approach.
Museum status: Declared a national treasure by the committee, unanimously, of one.
- Venue
- UNO City, room 42, in its first autumn
- Attendance
- 4,242
- Guest of honour
- Douglas Adams (missed his speaking slot and enjoyed the whooshing sound)
- Fun fact
- 7.5 million years of computing, 2 digits of output
What happened
The committee spent a year building a machine to answer the Ultimate Question of Slopfest and ran it once, on the night. It printed '42'. The festival accepted this, held everything in room 42 and set the ticket price at 42 schillings. Douglas Adams attended, missed the deadline for his talk, and said he enjoyed the whooshing sound.
Elsewhere in 1979
Douglas Adams publishes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which the computer Deep Thought answers everything with 42.
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