The glitzy launch of the new iBook, Apple's latest notebook computer targeted at the education market, this week in the US impressed much of the trade press and analysts alike.

And to the obvious delight of the Margin, Apple promised an Irish exclusive at its Cork facility - complete with top-level interview.

That's enough to whet the appetite of any technophile, regardless of the obligatory three-hour journey through the Republic's countryside at dawn.

By the time the Margin arrived, the desire to burn CDs or watch a DVD on the machine was almost unbearable.

Imagine the shock when the Margin was handed an earlier model and told the real one was still in Britain. Thank God for a 10-minute power cut that plunged the facility into darkness enabling a speedy exit.