Just over a week ago, I went home to visit my Mum. This was a good deed, given her current situation, and like all good deeds it did not go unpunished. As I set up my iBook to recharge over night, the power cable made a “bzzt” noise, there was a startling electric blue flash. Then the cable stopped working.

Oooops.

So, I’ve been without my iBook for the best part of a week. Lorna made some jokey comments about withdrawal symptoms. Need…e-mail…need…web access. Maybe she’s right.

The net result is that I’m typing this on my brand new iMac. Well, not strictly true, as I bought it in the used goods section of John Lewis, but you get the general idea. The iBook was never intended to be anything more than a temporary replacement for a desktop while my father was ill and I was traveling to Suffolk every week. Now Dad’s with the Lord, I really need a desktop. I do seem to write faster on one and I have a fair amount of freelance to do in the coming months.

In a fit of further Apple geekiness, I headed off to the Apple Expo in Islington this morning, and what a fine event it was. The atmosphere was really pleasant and friendly than any IT-related show I’ve been to in a little while. The age range was quite amazing. Everyone from small kids with their families to people that must have been older than my Mum. Oh, and far more women than you’d expect from a computer show.

I think the key note of the experience was fun: “look at all the cool stuff you can do with these machines”. Oh, and the women wandering about with iPods for people to try were temptation incarnate. I resisted though and satisfied myself with an iPod poster,

Most vivid memory - half a dozen glowing Apple logos from just above floor level in one of the empty areas on the balcony. They were from the Powerbook G4s of the various men and women up there easting their lunches and playing with new software.