History is littered with odd couples: Anthony and Cleopatra; Ant and Dec; DEC and Compaq. However, none have ever made a more arresting pair than geriatric rockers The Rolling Stones and Research in Motion, purveyor of email devices to the work-life unbalanced. The two had planned to team up to produce a special edition BlackBerry – presumably one with a big red tongue on it, or perhaps with extra-large keys for the elderly – but the tie-up unravelled before the product launched and wound up in court. Then again, maybe the pairing wasn’t so odd. What could be more appropriate for the highly addictive CrackBerry than the band’s most famous lyric: “If you start me up, I’ll never stop”.

Of course we’ve had a U2 iPod and The Rolling Stones were co-opted to launch Windows 95, so Sneak has unilaterally decided to pair up other worn-out rockers with their tech complements. Google should be forced to play The Damned’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - “I’m normal outside, he’s evil inside” - when users sign up for its “free” services. The long-awaited Windows Server 2008 (nee Longhorn) must arrive to the tune of Take That’s Patience. Oracle’s perplexing Fusion project should employ Toyah Wilcox to warble, “It’s a mystery, I’m still searching for a clue.” And Microsoft, fresh from asserting that Linux infringes all its US patents, will have to wheel out Adam Ant singing, “Stand and deliver, your money or your life!”

17 May 2007