Inessential thing: Key-chain laser pointer

I've never really trusted people with flash key-rings. The sort of person who squanders hard-earned cash on redundant gew-gaws like this invariably also has a nasty silver credit-card holder they're desperate to show you.

Designed for use in slide presentations, the pointer, it's claimed, is "small enough to be kept on your key ring and ready for use at all times".

As Noel Gallagher will tell you, however, the person who zapped Oasis with a laser pointer at a concert on their last UK tour wasn't holding an impromptu mid-gig seminar.

Even if those middle-management types aren't out and about blinding rock stars with their pointers, the fact that the laser, once the most glamorous of technologies, has ended up at best a glorified stick and at worst a key-ring novelty is pretty disappointing.

Lasers - about as sexy as flip charts.

Key Chain Laser Pointer, pounds 29.95 (stockists, 0990 80 70 60)