Four gadgets to take on holiday — and two to leave behind

One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for your holiday — you just take a tablet or Kindle and buy books on a whim. The downside, however, is that this old dilemma has been replaced by an entirely new one: what bits of electronic crap need you take on holiday and what should be left at home.

One thing you will never see on these pages is a review of headphones. I have owned lots of these over the years, costing between £10 and £150. Unfortunately all of them are completely useless. This is because I am married. I don’t know where this rule appears in the wedding vows, but two seconds after I put on any kind of headset, my wife will appear from nowhere in front of me and start mouthing in a state of agitation. Once I find the pause button, she will ask me one of a series of pointless questions stored up in reserve for moments of spousal headset use: ‘What is the capital of Ecuador?’ or worse, ‘Can you remember the name/age of some random person’s child?’