There are three major exceptions to this rule, however: coffee, CDs and magazines. I know the first doesn't really count because it's not like you're buying anything you get to keep, but still, bzzt coffee. The second two are linked by the fact that they both remain hugely important to me and also something I'm aware are increasingly retro.

I mean, the very act of getting up, going over, taking a disc out of its case and putting it in the CD tray now just feels outmoded, like repositioning the needle on an LP for its second side. But I can see why people older than me still swear by vinyl, because I'm pretty sure I'll keep on buying CDs until it's really hard to do so. If for no other reason than my computer speakers are useless.

But the practical difficulty of getting hold of the products I like is much more of an issue when it comes to magazines. After books-and-other-stuff chain Borders closed at the end of last year, there are titles that I just can't buy on the high street anymore. WH Smith's is fine for big selling publications, and some imports (the US edition of Wired, for instance, and The New Yorker) but it sadly doesn't have the same diversity.

I know both of the magazines I've included as examples both have excellent presences online, and know that the fact this is something I miss says more, I think, about my personal love for the medium of ink-on-paper than any wider consumer demand. It's just strange that something that used to be so easily available - yesterday's chip papers - is becomingly increasingly hard to get hold of.