How is that important in a story about a 1990 computer used by an author that died several years ago (and last used said computer 15 years ago)?

He's going to come back using an improbability drive though. I expect him to pop up when the Vogons leave.

Normality restored in 642842942424842424284328...

One reason is it gives people an idea if they've read this before or not.

"Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly ... , we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.”