In defense of telephony people, it must be pointed out that they are the ones who really know the score when it comes to sending bits across oceans. Netheads have heard so much puffery about the robust nature of the Internet and its amazing ability to route around obstacles that they frequently have a grossly inflated conception of how many routes packets can take between continents and how much bandwidth those routes can carry. As of this writing, I have learned that nearly the entire state of Minnesota was recently cut off from the Internet for 13 hours because it had only one primary connection to the global Net, and that link went down. If Minnesota, of all places, is so vulnerable, one can imagine how tenuous many international links must be.

Relying on technical acumen, the self-organisation of the internet and hacking classes won’t be enough. Censorship must become legally untenable, not just technically.

The laptop computer doesn’t have the same relationship – sure, you can use it on your lap – but it still uses the desktop metaphor for the computer interface. You can’t lay out all your real-life files on your lap as you can on your desk.

In this respect, I think the move away from multitasking on the iPad represents a genuine ‘laptop’ computer. Singular focus, relaxed usage, in line with how you would actually work when you’re on the couch.