John Thomson

Tell us about your gadget life, do you lust after the latest must-have innovations?

One of the problems I have at my house is that I married an interior designer who likes clean lines, and my desire for my own personal objet d'art is somewhat limited because they don't fit in the scheme of things. In the front room I've got a Pioneer plasma that must be getting on for about eight years old now and it works just as well as is it did the day I got it, so I'm glad. It's not HD ready because there was no HD then, but I have got an HDTV in the other room with my various games consoles.

Do you spend hours surfing gadget websites, looking at catalogues and/or Sunday supplement magazines?

I subscribe to Which magazine and I have a good look at that because I am quite a keen consumer but, thankfully, maturity has caught up with me - so that idea of 'must have' has changed because a lot of the time you don't need it.

Are there any gadgets or gizmos that you couldn't live without that we should know about?

My iPhone.

If you could invent a gadget to make you into an overnight entrepreneur, what would it be?

I've invented a shredder that works with a vacuum and compressed air. Once your shredder fills up you switch on the vacuum, which removes all the air space between the paper and shrinks it. Then you use a handle that is pulled down to compress the paper into bricks, which you could either burn or recycle. So that's it. You heard it first here. Anyone interested? That's my pitch.

Have you ever had a case of 'gadget envy', where perhaps a friend, neighbour or family friend has something you want?

Well quite recently I had gadget envy over an iPhone with 3G.

Do you take anything specific gizmo-wise when you go on tour?

On holiday, I take my Nintendo DS. My daughter would take hers and sometimes we'd play each other on games. A PSP, with relevant games, iPod, set of speakers and a portable DVD player to keep me and my daughter happy, who is five. So yeah, two kids together.

How do you view the use of in-car Sat Navs?

I have Sat Nav because it's indispensable sometimes, but it always gives me the fear slightly because I have had a few mishaps with it. I think it's a good idea to double up and get directions from maps too. That's my tip.

Do you think there is a boy/girl divide on gadgets?

Yeah, I think definitely. Apparently it costs a great deal more to bring up a boy than a girl because they're more games savvy than girls are. Although they are trying to market to girls better with karaoke and High School Musical and things. I think girls find that boys trivialise things. The big thing with girls is the latest GHD straighteners really. Yes, there's a definite divide.