Opinion: Open and shut case

But is this realistic? Will you really be able to sell an upmarket designer bag with majestic markup or will the customer just keep using their existing bag?

Or worse, just wander across the road to Crazy Clarks and buy any old bag. And "any old bag" isn't too bad a strategy really. Who wants a bag which so obviously contains a prized laptop? Might as well just write "steal me" in large letters on the side.

But maybe there is a market for stealthy laptop bags. Something a bit more discreet, which doesn't scream out loud begging to be stolen, but still keeps the laptop cosy and warm. Of course, you'll need to stock about a hundred different but equally non-descript bags for this strategy to work. After all, if they become must-have items then everyone will know what's inside them again. Oops.

It seems that every laptop sale now presents an opportunity to on-sell a raft of goodies if the experts are to be believed. For starters, most laptops don't have much storage so a nice portable hard drive works, and something to encrypt the contents wouldn't go astray either. Nothing creates fear and loathing like the thought of a laptop left in the back of a taxi without any encryption on the files. Shudder.