CES is here once again, and the tech world is busy trying to show us, and eventually sell to us, those gizmos and apps that we never knew we needed. Bendy smartphones, ‘experience’ toilets, smarter speakers, and machines to create your own flavoured yoghurt or brew your craft ales.

The list is endless, but all this tech is only as good as the person using it — and sometimes that person is still the better option.

For example, I have a thing about satnavs. I never completely trust them to get me to wherever I want to go. Last week I was going to see an ex-Wildfire colleague in an area that I knew a bit about, but not the ins and outs of the local one-way systems. So I decided to put the postcode into the car’s system to ensure I got there smoothly.

Fortunately, I checked my route on Google Maps before I left, otherwise I think I might have ended up in Poole harbour. “Turn right” it shouted at me when I knew I should have gone left. “Hard right at the next junction” but it was a roundabout. “Take the third exit” which would have sent me back towards London rather than my destination.

I love the promise of a new tomorrow that events like CES promise us and I really do look forward to the big steps in consumer tech that they bring. However, there is a need to remember that sometimes the old ways can be just as good — and keep the brain going.