We have a better class of ebook reader now, however. Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s reader and iRex’s Iliad all have faults, but they have an expanded toolset more suited to the increasingly wireless and converged world where we not only want content on the go but see no need to restrict it to just books.

As the only tech company whose products are anticipated as much as a blockbuster movie or video game, it can afford to be secretive, and its modus operandi not to comment is legendary. Apple doesn’t speculate, comment or advise on anything until the Cupertino High Council has decreed it.