When I was young, my proudest possession was a pop-up book called "Little Lil's Book of the Countryside." I was so fond of it, more possessive of this simple thing than my more expensive toys (no, I didn't have many). I couldn't bear to be parted from the book, and even (to my mother's fury) took it on trains and buses and stared at it in fascination.

Yesterday, on a train journey, another woman passenger had a computer tablet (like an i-Pad, but some other model). She looked very studious and in deep concentration as her forefinger glided easily over the screen. I happened to sit behind her, and saw she was playing "Robinson Crusoe's Big Adventure".

Were the two things any different?