This morning I set out to visit the South London Camera Fair at Sidcup, Kent, with the new Leica Monochrom (Typ 246) and 50mm Apo-Summicron round my neck. An ordinary sort of Sunday, but an extraordinary combination of camera and lens. After a couple of hours immersed in old cameras I made my way along the M25 in search of old and new motors—always to be found at the Brooklands Motor Museum.

For the past few years I have always bought my phones direct from Apple, without contract, and have assumed that it is the cheapest way to smartphone ownership. I am always suspicious of the carriers’ hire-purchase deals which are seldom the most cost-efficient solution. I buy new and sell after a year or two and the difference is my ownership cost. But what if I forget all about ownership and regard the phone as a rentable commodity?