What's your favourite piece of technology?
My computer – I have two, a Dell desktop P5, about 5 years old, and an IBM ultra-portable X40.
How has it improved your life?
Well the main thing is that it really removes a lot of the drudgery involved with writing. I wrote a book in 1980 and I realised that typing up the manuscript for final typesetting took about 48 hours, so I've been using a computer for writing since 1981. It increases the amount of creative time I can devote to the process.
When was the last time you used it, and what for?
This morning, and I used it to check my email and look at the Guardian website to check the news, and then to do some writing.
What additional features would you add if you could?
Voice recognition. I don't think it would replace typing, but I realised once I started writing that typing used a different part of my brain than writing by hand. I could use VR as a tool to basically increase my flexibility and give me a different approach to the text I'm working on.
Do you think it will be obsolete in 10 years' time?
No. Obviously the hardware will be – they are obsolete now, in one sense, because I can't do the latest gaming on them – but they are adequate for the work I do on them. Computers as tools I don't think will be obsolete for a very long time,
What one tip would you give to non-computer users?
Get your typewriter fixed and buy a new ribbon.
Do you consider yourself to be a luddite or a nerd?
Neither. That's a really binary question, and I don't really think it's a binary world. I'm certainly not a luddite.
What's the most expensive piece of technology you've ever owned?
Aside from my house, which is technology but not a gadget, that would be my stereo system. And some of it is English.
Mac or PC?
PC. I don't know that the difference between Mac and PC matters much these days. I think you get more value for the dollar out of PCs.
What song is at the top of your iPod's top 25 most played list?
It's actually Fritz Reiner's performance of Seigfried's Rhine Journey. I use my iPod only when travelling, and it's always the first piece I play when I turn it on.
Will robots rule the world?
No. I think we can use robots to manage a lot of things for us, but I think you have to assume creative thought when you start thinking about ruling the world.
What piece of technology would you most like to own?
It's one that doesn't exist – a machine that makes me less connected to the world. It's this idea that we become unconciously so connected and so available that it's hard to pull back and say I need time to think.
Gunnar Hansen is best known for his role as Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the three-disc "Seriously Ultimate Edition" is out now in the UK). More recently, Hansen has just finished shooting Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre in Iceland
