I’m between meetings in Soho today with a few hours to kill, so I lugged my laptop into town with a view to finding a wi-fi hotspot so that I could do something useful with the time. I must have wandered around for 20 minutes without seeing a sign anywhere, and finally resorted to using a T-Mobile one in Starbucks. I say “resorted to” - not because the coffee could be better - but because I know that’s it’s a bit on the expensive side. At £5 for one hour or £10 for 24, it’s pretty pricey for something I now regard as a commodity. Both my laptop and mobile phone are charging at the same time, but nobody’s asked me to pay for the electricity to do so. It’s about time public wi-fi access came down in price, or was offered for free, certainly by some of the bigger coffee chains.

Word of warning if you’re absorbed in what you’re doing: keep an eye on your valuables. Some unsavoury individual just tried to nick my handbag that was sitting on the floor at my feet. Luckily, my peripheral vision is pretty good, I saw him hook his foot around the strap and snatched it away just in time. The chap in question left the shop with his coat pulled over his head. Tut-tut.

Jo Jamieson