I HAVE a straight-forward view of technology. It gets us into a mess, so it’s technology’s responsibility to get us out of it.

Some might say my view is over-simplistic and we can’t rely on technocrats alone to solve, for example, the problem of man-made climate change. Only by all of us changing our energy consumption habits can we hope to combat that particular scourge.

But we humans can’t always be trusted to do the right thing so I go back to my first point - we have to use technology better. In the realm of climate change, for example, that means developing such things as hydrogen-powered cars, from which we would get a very useful by-product - water.

I’m sure scientists the world over are beavering away on a whole range of new ideas to solve an eclectic mix of problems from new forms of planet-friendly power generation to innovative ways of keeping us healthy.

A new one on the latter front is a cigarette packet developed by researchers at Stirling University that plays a recorded message urging smokers to quit. The audio clips giving warning messages about the dangers of smoking are triggered when the packet is opened.

If this proves effective, I wonder where such innovations might end.

A chocolate box which warns that sugar and fat is bad for you? A bag of crisps that reminds you that too much salt raises your blood pressure?

Mine would rise just hearing such patronising messages.

Mind you, I’m not entirely against using such clever technology - so here are some of my own suggestions: An intelligent washing machine that refuses to start its cycle if you’ve accidentally mixed whites and coloureds; a domestic letter box that can detect, sort and automatically shred junk mail; and, similarly, a telephone that can recognise nuisance sales callers - with the ability to deliver a loud ‘raspberry’ in response.