Tech Eye: The sounds of the nano-state

So instead of Uncle TechEye waking us at three in the morning to go badger baiting, we remember fun days fighting crime with Mr T and the A-Team. Rather than think of Auntie TechEye's various remedies involving household cleaning products to "wash those dirty thoughts out of your filthy little head," we prefer to remember the good time's spent patrolling the sunny beaches with Mitch Buchanan. And instead of Father's sage advice on how best to blood your bird before a midnight cock fight at the crossroads, we fondly remember the leather catsuit we wore when we were Charlie's fourth, if somewhat hairy, angel.

One thing that TechEye does remember oh-so-well is what gave us our love of all things gadget. It wasn't big and it wasn't clever, but the first technical trapping that we got into our sticky palm was a small flick knife that we stole from a local fishmonger. How we wondered at its flick-out action as it sliced into our stupid fingers that resolutely refused to learn their lesson. How handy it was at dinner time, when we could stave off our siblings with a few swift slashes at the feeding trough to get our fair share of gruel. And it was invaluable for cutting footholes in the wall so we could climb out of the pit Father would sling us in when we had been caught misbehaving.

However, these days most people's initial introduction to the world of gadgetry comes in the form of something plastic and metal that makes soothing noises and is made by a bunch of bean-eating sandal-recycling hairy middle-class dropouts in California (or Apple as it's called on the company website). While other companies are going to hell in a handcart, Apple has pulled off another coup with the iPod. The 4GB nano holds 1,000 songs but is thinner than a pencil. This waif-like model can be yours for around zł.1,200 - and you won't have to keep it stocked full of cocaine.