In this blog I use the word “gadgets” as a handy shorthand for certain bits of hardware. The kind of things I am talking about are illustrated in the pictures in the header for this website. In the order they are depicted there, they are:

• touch screen phones (e.g., the iPhone; the Samsung Galaxy; the Nokia Lumia)
• tablets (e.g., the Apple iPad, iPad Mini, and iPad Air; the Samsung Galaxy Tab; the Hudl; Google Nexus tablets, the Kindle Fire)
• games consoles (e.g., the Microsoft Xbox; the Sony Play Station; the Nintendo Wii),
• miscellaneous small items of equipment (e.g., a fitness bracelet such as the FitBit; the Jawbone UP)
• laptops
• smart TVs (e.g., Panasonic Viera)
• desktop PCs (not pictured)
• ereaders (e.g., the Kindle; the Kobo, not pictured, look like tablets)