He failed the 11-plus - something which still grates even today - and attended Ellesmere PortSecondary Modern before joining the Merchant Navy, where he worked as a ship's steward during the last days of the great ocean liners.
The front of controller features bass, treble and volume knobs, a power toggle, LED indicator and a 3.5mm auxiliary jack, while the back features a secondary 3.5mm jack, a powered USB port (allowing for the hookup of Bluetooth-enabling dongles, for example) and a toaster slot for the current and previous generation of AirPort Express routers.