You might not have me down as a lover of gadgets and all things technical, but I am. I got myself an ipod about four years ago and happily listened to music on it, downloaded the odd audiobook, used it for transporting files around, and all in all thought I was pretty cool. But recently I got myself one of these little darlings. My goodness, this is something else. It's not a phone (though it looks just like the much more expensive iphone) but it has wireless internet connection, so as well as all the things I used to do (music etc) you can google away, read your email, watch YouTube, check the weather forecasts, look up maps and all the other delightful things you do on your computer. You can also download applications. I began in rather a modest way with Solitaire, Sudoko and Tetris -- invaluable for long boring train journeys of which I make far too many -- but browsing away one day I discovered that I could download e-reader for free. It came with two free novels which I may or may not ever read -- Tarzan of the Apes and The Last of the Mohicans. But I have now discovered a site which has hundreds if not thousands of free books, and have just downloaded Dostoievsky's The Idiot which for some reason I have been curious to read. I took a look at it this morning and before I knew where I was I had read a whole chapter. It won't replace books, ever, don't get me wrong, but it was really rather a delightful novelty, and I think I will use it when travelling if nothing else. What larks, Pip.

