The last post about my US sojourn - I promise. But I just had to include this snap I took in our hotel. It's of a Bloomberg machine, which was on display at the financial conference running in parallel to the massed gathering of PC World editors.

In a world ruled by web freebies, PCs, and open everything, this closed system seems like some kind of 80s relic (check out the toy keyboard!). Yet Bloomberg LP, owned by New York mayor and financial services billionaire Michael Bloomberg, will only let you access its market data - at least to full effect - through one of its custom-built terminals. The best bit (for Mike): you don't even get to own it. Instead you lease one for around $US1500 a month, and there are around 250,000 "Bloombergs" installed around large financial companies. No wonder wags call them "Money Machines" (insiders simply call it "The Terminal").

I found the Bloomberg's graphics rudimentary, and its news display and other data scrolled at a speed only viewable by dogs and teenagers. The snazzy dual-screens aside, most of it looked like it could be replicated on an old DOS PC. Though its interface is certainly simpler: to get where you want to go, you simply bash the right colour on the keyboard.