The carriages on my daily commute to Sussex and back are so well sound-proofed that you can hear a fly scratching its ear in the driver’s cabin. So when a repetitive tapping noise interrupted my gentle snooze on the way home last night, I set about immediately locating the culprit.

I was expecting it to be an inconsiderate iPod owner tapping away to the beat. In fact, it was another Apple product to blame - the MacBook Air.

The chap in the row opposite was rattling out a document, with his laptop hanging precariously over the edge of the train table, so as not to steal any more than half of the available table space (the unwritten rule of laptop etiquette on the Brighton line).

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