So then, back in the crazy old times of Christmas 2016 (Happy New Year one and all - apologies for the lateness but my excuse which includes work, illness, Jury service (and, sadly, home decoration) is a valid one) i was fortunate enough to receive from Santa an Amazon Echo Dot - aka Alexa in common parlance.

I was incredibly excited to see exactly what i could do with such a device and now, after quite a few weeks (and a replacement) i've come to the conclusion that other than ranting and raving like a lunatic at her to answer me or to find out tomorrow's weather, i'm back in 1981 and facing the above piece of industrial design gold - the Sinclair ZX81.

You see, back in the day my Dad borrowed one from a friend and brought it home for me to play with and see what i could do with it. I'm sure it was a precursor to getting me a Commodore 64 (which i subsequently got) but i remember the frisson of excitement of connecting it up to my 10 inch black and white portable TV (heady times) and turning it on...

The subsequent disappointment in realising that i wasn't a programmer and that the device (whilst it had potential) wasn't all singing and dancing was crushing. It was only later on that the C64 arrived and i managed to do what i wanted with a computer - which at the age of 9 or so was to play games.

In the last 25 or so years we've come on in leaps and bounds technology wise and yet it seems we're back to square one with technology waiting for the applications and integration with other equipment to catch up.

The purpose of this walk down memory lane? Well, voice activation for everyday items in our home is in it's infancy at present but give it another 2, 5, 10 years and we'll be sitting like Tony Stark talking to Jarvis.

We're already verbally interacting with our phones, our cars and our media collections and the next stage seems to be voice recognition for online shopping, then control of our home automation and then, and then, and then...

The possibilities seem endless - and that's how our lives should be. Full of imagination and hope for the future.

We currently as a country stand at a crossroads on so many levels with Brexit and other Neverendums being bandied around that sometimes it can be difficult not to take our eyes off our goals.

Much like the best teams, we should be pulling together in the same direction and for the best outcome for all, not just for personal pride or gain.

Much like the ZX81 and my transition to the C64 - the best outcomes come with perseverence and a bit of patience...

(Incidentally, if you've received any electrical equipment recently and you need additional socket outlets installed, well...)