The device takes up less space than a few large remote controls on your TV cabinet, and connects to both the TV and your home network router via cable or wireless. There are a few limitations, but like everything Apple does, it points the way to the future. A word of warning however — watch your downloads. It’ll be easy to rack up big data charges.

We’ve all seen Hollywood movies where a high ranking general gains entry into the top secret bunker beneath a mountain by speaking into a microphone and having the computer scan the timbre of his voice to confirm it’s really him.

It used to be cut and dried. We walked into a store and bought a 7-inch single or videocassette if we liked a song or movie. None of us had the means to reproduce it in the sort of numbers that would hurt copyright holders too much. But nowadays, an eleven-year-old on the family PC can copy and distribute anything to billions of otherwise paying customers.