Editing Michael Crichton (section)

===Video games and computing===
[[File:AtariBASIC.png|thumb|left|Crichton was an early proponent of programming and computers, predicting their ubiquity.]]
In 1983, Crichton wrote ''[[Electronic Life]]'', a book that introduces [[BASIC]] [[computer programming|programming]] to its readers. The book, written like a glossary, with entries such as: "Afraid of Computers (everybody is)," "Buying a Computer" and "Computer Crime," was intended to introduce the idea of personal computers to a reader who might be faced with the hardship of using them at work or at home for the first time. It defined basic computer jargon and assured readers that they could master the machine when it inevitably arrived. In his words, being able to program a computer is liberation: "In my experience, you assert control over a computer—show it who's the boss—by making it do something unique. That means programming it... If you devote a couple of hours to programming a new machine, you'll feel better about it ever afterward."<ref>{{cite book|author=Crichton, Michael|title=[[Electronic Life]]|publisher=Knopf|date=1983|page=44|isbn=0-394-53406-9}}</ref>

In the book, Crichton predicts a number of events in the history of computer development, that computer networks would increase in importance as a matter of convenience, including the sharing of information and pictures that we see online today, which the telephone never could. He also makes predictions for computer games, dismissing them as "the [[hula hoop]]s of the 80s," and saying "already there are indications that the mania for twitch games may be fading." In a section of the book called "Microprocessors, or how I flunked biostatistics at Harvard," Crichton again seeks his revenge on the teacher who had given him abnormally low grades in college. Within the book, Crichton included many self-written demonstrative [[Applesoft BASIC|Applesoft]] (for [[Apple II]]) and [[Microsoft BASICA|BASICA]] (for [[IBM PC compatible]]s) programs.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-06/1985_06_BYTE_10-06_Programming_Techniques#page/n415/mode/2up | title=From the Living Room | work=BYTE | date=June 1985 | access-date=April 23, 2016 | author=[[Pournelle, Jerry]] | page=409}}</ref>

''[[Amazon (video game)|Amazon]]'' is a [[graphical adventure]] game created by Crichton and produced by John Wells. [[Trillium Corporation|Trillium]] released it in the United States in 1984 initially for the [[Apple II]], [[Atari 8-bit computers]], and [[Commodore 64]]. ''Amazon'' sold more than 100,000 copies, making it a significant commercial success at the time.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} It has plot elements similar to those previously used in ''Congo''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=48|title=Home of the Underdogs|website=homeoftheunderdogs.net|access-date=February 1, 2013|archive-date=May 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521185301/http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=48|url-status=live}}</ref> Crichton started a company selling a computer program he had originally written to help him create budgets for his movies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.com/programmer/|title=Programmer|date=March 25, 2015 |publisher=michaelcrichton.com|access-date=August 20, 2015|archive-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820204818/http://www.michaelcrichton.com/programmer/|url-status=live}}</ref> He often sought to utilize computing in films, such as ''Westworld'', which was the first film to employ computer-generated special effects. He also pushed Spielberg to include them in the ''Jurassic Park'' films. For his pioneering use of computer programs in film production he was awarded the [[Academy Award for Technical Achievement]] in 1995.<ref name="WEBSITEBIO"/>