Another dreary post

Ooof, I can hardly bring myself to type out the same neutered drivel, there to take up kb of space and add entropically to the heat death of the universe. On a brighter note, no-one will notice this. Good upside of sorts, plus it's nice and sunny out there today. Right, I'm off to make a fool of myself, if I haven't already.

ipod (large), I mean, ipad

Stephen Fry, the common man's Peter Ustinov (of sorts), went ga-ga over it. Not having his late friend, Douglas Adams, wax lyrical about Job's latest piece of gadge, Mr Fry gave us his take on the ipad and suggested, in a round about way, of doing something wholly inappropriate to it. I wouldn't myself, but I appreciate the sentiment.

What then of the ipad (a name, sadly lacking in imagination), of which much has already been said? Firstly, it's an inevitability. It's not new. It doesn't have to be. Instead what it is, is an Apple, and that, ladies and gentleman, makes the difference. But you already know this.

And yet I won't be buying one... not until my sturdy macbook goes to silicon heaven. Besides, I want the one with front and rear cameras with mega mega pixels for great stills and video, and for phoning. I want HD and an optional 3D interface. I want twin chips and a terabyte of memory. I want triple the battery life and multitasking. I want mine black and without a border; lighter and stronger; usb ports... What I want it do, is everything I can and cannot think of, and I want it now. In essence, I want the 5th gen model, not the incremental offerings, regardless of excuse. Oh, and did I say I don't want to pay anymore than $400 bucks? Well done Apple nonetheless.

Space: the final frontier - Space taxi, please!

Up, up and away! With the unveiling of Branson's spaceplane (not sure if it's quite a space ship), we are asked to imagine that a new era in space travel has arrived for the common man, albeit the common man with a serious wad to blow. Barely licking the thermosphere, and quite a bit short of actually achieving orbit, the SS2 will allow passengers a brief taste of weightless and an unparalleled view of the Earth, before returning back to Earth. The idle rich can then turn to the spacehostess and demand a sickbag for corkscrew re-entry. Pretty big spuds needed for that bit of the $200,000 thrill ride, I should think. Still, it's this kind of private indulgence of the rich that prompted the first crossings of the Atlantic by air that eventually allowed the common man to follow suit. Now if Branson could do the same for his trains and planes...