After a brief paperless evolution, the marine electronic press release has fledged anew in armoured plumage. These days, everything seems to arrive in a tin.

Silver tins, to be exact.

Beneath is a small selection of the invitations and releases that arrived in a box in 2010. From left: a corporate DVD; an invitation to a launch party complete with a compass to help you get there; and a USB stick with video and information.

This latest tin says excitingly on the cover: ‘Cleaning your hull has changed. See how inside’.

Inside is a USB stick. And yes, it would be revolutionary if you could just plug it in, start up PhotoShop, and eliminate a weedy hull remotely with a few swipes of the healing tool. Sadly, neither miracles nor elbow grease is included.

The product featured is the Brizo, a device for cleaning a hull in the water that looks rather like the old Ewbank carpet sweeper of yore. This is it below.