I bumped into Genevieve Bell at lunch time. She is Intel's director of user services and an anthropologist. You may remember that we wrote about her at the INQster.

We were interested in why PC penetration is so low in India, and asked her about the reasons for that.

There is a 'constellation of reasons', said Bell. She has been into houses in India and in other places around the world where a PC is treated as an item which is a cherished piece of equipment, not your average throw-away item in Western Europe and the US.

Apart from the cost of the PC, many people feel they need to install air conditioning too, and as dial up is not much of an option, have to fork out for broadband too. That adds up to a hefty amount of money for an Indian family.

We were listening to her intently when suddenly we felt a strong pair of hands around our neck, throttling us to death. I grabbed the strong wrists and arms of the man who was choking me, and who turned out to be Throttling Pat Gelsinger. There were witnesses to the throttling - a South African gentleman called Mark Davison can testify to the truth of this incident.

This somewhat distracted me from Genevieve Bell's final line to me about PCs being treated in the same way her grandmother treated her budgerigar, reverently wrapping it up in a tea towel every night so it could sleep.

After my near death experience, I  re-assessed life and have decided that life is good. X