I’m spending too much time following digital music and related hardware: last night I had a ridiculously detailed dream about a new Sony iPod killer that combined video, music and a torch in one simple device. It was a bit like a pair of earphones, but the left hand “phone” was a large blue rectangle the size of a cricket bat, with a torch at the end. And there was a huge battery pack that you had to strap around your waist like a diver’s weight belt. The Video WalkMan had a piano keyboard, lots of flashing lights and on the bit nearest your face, a video screen. Oh, and it was a really horrible, vivid metallic blue.

To sell the device Sony came up with an ad campaign featuring Bono and showing him in two situations: with an iPod, and with Sony’s video WalkMan. So you’d see him on a plane with his iPod, bored and asleep; then you’d see him with an electronic cricket bat strapped to his head, watching the video for Vertigo and rubbing his hands with glee.

I think I need a holiday.