And speaking of the computer, with one fell swoop it has dealt a devastating blow to a universally well-loved tradition, the Christmas card, the one with greetings written by hand, and inserted in envelopes, and pushed into overflowing fire-engine red post boxes.

It was quite a tradition. Weeks before Christmas one would buy a set of these cards, prepare a list of the names of relatives and friends to whom they are to be sent, see that their addresses are in the address book, and then begin the task of writing the greetings in the cards, in one’s very own hand-writing, inserting them into envelopes, addressing the envelopes, affixing stamps of various denominations on these, and then rushing with them to various crowded post offices to ensure that they are delivered by Christmas Eve.

And then one’s own cards started coming, and what joy it was to receive them. Many oohed and aahed as they opened the brightly coloured creations, splendid with blood-red holly and striped candy canes and terribly overweight Santas in sleighs pulled by Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and all that, even some with Rudolph and his glowing nose in the fore.

Some were overjoyed at being remembered with a lovely Hallmark product from Aunt Juliet, and another from a school friend of some 40 years ago and who now resides in Canada. Cards from old boyfriends and students that one taught and divorced wives and a mere acquaintance to which one had been kind all added to the joy of this very unique season, all brought back pleasant memories with a rush .

The old fashioned among us would display these cards proudly on side-boards and mantles and even string them up in great arcs on the wall.

Alas. The computer and its Hot Mail and Yahoo services have put a limit to all this. The card sent by the e-mail is now the thing. One just gets on-line, chooses a free card from the site, types in a greeting in the box provided, presses the send button and presto, the card is received on the computers of friends and relatives all over the world.

Magical and brilliant and just a bit over-powering for the elderly. Yet all the same a bit poorer for loss of the personal touch. A card held in one’s hand from a loved one faraway is particularly moving. To realise that the card was chosen from a store and then carefully inscribed by hand and then dispatched by mail is to fill the heart of the receiver with thankfulness.

All this is missing in the e-mail card. The electronic device is indicative of an impersonal brashness that reduces the act of receiving a Christmas greeting to mere clickings on the expensive Dell or Compaq, with a picture on a screen.

Gone is the joy of holding the gift in one’s hands and running one’s fingers on the frosted cover with the silver dust clinging to finger-tips and never coming off until washed off under a tap.

But there are those who still buy Christmas cards and send them by mail. These are the sensitive, caring ones. The ones who are cognisant of the magic of Christmas as it used to be, and who recognise the threat posed by the advance of the machines.