'I'd like something that updates my Twitter feed onto the front of a T-shirt'

What's your favourite piece of technology, and how has it improved your life?
Probably the iPod. There is still something magical about having all of my music, or most of it, along with hundreds of hours of books, old radio and some TV shows there for me when I want them.

When was the last time you used it, and what for?
Last week in a hotel in New York City, I fell asleep to a 1942 Jack Benny radio show, and woke up to an Amanda Palmer song as the alarm.

What additional features would you add if you could?
I just want it to have a big enough drive for me to put everything on it. And I do mean everything.

Do you think it will be obsolete in 10 years
I doubt it. IPods get bigger and better, and everything wants to be a phone, but they stick around. My house is filled with elderly iPods, and they are always being used – kitchen iPods, and the like. Some now live in cars. I may have Flash drives with bigger memories, but still, even the 5GB one isn't obsolete – just a museum piece.

What always frustrates you about technology in general?
It's a distraction. It makes it harder to work, and not easier. And I miss things that worked that get replaced by things that don't actually function as well. I miss (for example) nice clunky northgate style keyboards that were a delight for those of us who type all day. Keyboards are smaller and much prettier and nowhere near as comfortable.

If you had one tip to give about getting the best out of new technology, what would it be?
Get your son to play with it first and report back.

Do you consider yourself to be a luddite or a nerd?
A nerdy luddite. Or luddy nerdite. I am writing this to you on a plane on an Android G1 with cupcake, and I write my novels in fountain pen.

What's the most expensive piece of technology you've ever owned?
In real terms – ie, percentage of my income – it would be my first computer, a Tandon PC with a whopping 20MB hard drive. ("I feel bad selling it to you," said the salesman. "You'll never fill it.")

Mac or PC, and why?
All the house computers are now Macs, except for the basement Linux box. My notebook is a Panasonic W7, because Apple don't make anything that light or sturdy with a DVD drive. So I'm amphibian or bisexual or something.

Do you still buy physical media such as CDs and DVDs, or do you download? What was your last purchase?
Mostly I buy physical media, because I lose things; and it's good to have something to reload from when iTunes takes it into its head to reorganise my music in such a way that all my Thea Gilmore or the Indelicates vanishes completely.

Robot butlers – a good idea or not?
Only when they can shimmer in, like Jeeves. And persuade me to stop learning the banjo or shave off unlikely facial hair by rescuing Gussie Fink-Nottle from predatory lady novelists and the like, as real butlers do, will robot butlers be permitted to butle in my world.

What piece of technology would you most like to own?
Something that updates my Twitter feed onto the front of a T-shirt, I think. Do they make that yet?