Techno Beatnik: Thomas Dolby

MY WIFE AND two-year-old huddle over my wife’s iMac. Billy, the two year old, giggles uncontrollably as the computer makes boinging and slide-whistle sounds, then slurping noises. I move over for a closer look. The Teletubbies wave from the screen. Billy mouses the cursor over to what looks like an enormous toaster and clicks on it. Belgian waffles with smiley faces – I’m told this is Tubby Toast – start popping out of the appliance, the boings and slide-whistles all but eclipsed by Billy’s gales of laughter.