I have a Psion 3c organiser; the case and hinges are breaking up but they are, after all, some 20 years old, and have served me well. Moving on, and the Apple iPad Mini seems like a good replacement. One point you may be able to help with; on the Psion I set an alarm, turn it off, close up and at the appropriate time it switches itself on, the alarm sounds and shows the message tapped in earlier. On the iPad there is a clock with alarm facility but it appears that it only works if the iPad is left switched on. Not good, I think. I never leave my mobile phone on, only when I use it; perhaps I live in another age?
James Gibson, Quorn, Leicestershire
There is no need to worry about battery consumption or anything wearing out. Devices like the iPad are designed to be always on, and even though it has an Off mode, it’s not really and a circuit monitoring the power button remains active. In normal use an iPad has two operational modes: On, when you are using it, and Standby or Sleep, when you are not. In the latter state there is a modest drain on the battery and functions like the clock, Wi-Fi, push notification and email fetching, built-in alarm and the numerous alarm apps that are available tick away in the background and it can remain in this mode for several weeks (depending on the condition and charge state of the battery). None of the electronic components in an iPad suffer from being constantly on and will generally last a lot longer than the typical 3 to 5 year working life of these devices, before they are replaced, though given your past record, I won’t be surprised to be hearing from you in 2033 & #8230;
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