What computers or computers do you own or remember owning? Two Dell desktop PCs, a Compaq Presario, a Toshiba laptop, a Palm V. The worst thing that could happen is for computers to be seriously designed, to become beautiful; then I'd start buying one a week. My first computer was an Amstrad with double floppy disk drives you had to boot up each time. It was really primitive and so frustrating that I used to go to bed at night and dream in DOS.
Any favourite software? Powerpoint because I give lots of presentations. I spend hours going through the design templates which look like they were created by Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, all rococo kitsch, trying to choose the most vulgar ones!
How is the internet affecting television production? Instead of just four terrestrial channels, we now have thousands of competitors and niche broadcasting is proliferating rapidly. Some examples are www.earthnoise.com, a portal for people to post their documentary or drama videos, and www.quokka.com, which has expertise in extreme sports, windsurfing, yachting, martial arts. The net makes broadcasting comparatively cheap and easy. In response, Channel 4 has transformed itself into a multimedia corporation with a strong online presence and new division developing a whole range of TV/internet/interactive enhancements and programmes... Big Brother was our first major success.
Do you shop on the Net? Too much! I do most of my banking Online, buy some food and get drink from www.Lastorders.com, clothes, records, books, especially old and out of print books from Amazon, and I like to look in on the auction sites like www.QXL.com and Ebay.com. It's a good way to spot trends. But when I caught myself wanting to bid for a lipograph, a lipstick print on a tissue by Diana Ross, I thought: "Good God, man, get a grip!"
Do you visit any chatrooms or clubs Online? I spend time in www.motleyfool.co.uk, an unofficial and perverse version of the Financial Times; it's the place to go to dig the dirt. I also like www.webmonkey.com, where website and navigation designers hang out. The Digital Thinking Network is an online community where people try to imagine and solve the problems of a digital era through complex scenarios, part of a post graduate course set up by Rotterdam University.
Is there such a thing as electronic art? Absolutely, and it happens on three levels: fine art, popular or commercial art and community arts. A site I'm hooked on is www.soulbath.com , a cheeky, intriguing site that plays tricks with you - icons jump away when you try to click on them. And at www.icebox.com, a US site, they have the best in post-Simpson's, post-Southpark animation; and a Glasgow based company, the Digital Animation Group is a world pioneer in 3D avatars.
