Might be a little bit of product placement.

I think the computers were necessary for Sherlock to imagine this --



-- while he was actually looking at this.



Notice in the picture that he actually does have multiple windows open on each computer.  Sherlock created a kind of "mini-mind palace" on the desk.

As he narrowed down the number of women he conversed with, it allowed him to keep a clear image of which woman was giving which answer.  The fact that each computer eventually displayed the replies of one specific woman made the task easier and easier.

Remember, a mind palace is "a method of memory enhancement which uses visualization to organize and recall information" (the Wikipedia definition).  It involves the use of spatial memory to picture a three-dimensional area (like the rooms in a building), with different types of info  "stored" in each imaginary room.

So, Sherlock built a real-world model of this mind palace (the computers on his desks) to keep the new info straight while he compared and analyzed it mentally in the imaginary courtroom.

As for explaining the presence of Mycroft -- that's easy.  Most people talk in 2nd person when they mentally discuss something with themselves. ("We better go to the store today because we're out of milk.)  Sometimes we imagine a specific person to whom we're speaking. In Sherlock's case, Mycroft was the "other person" because Sherlock tends to imagine his brother being both helpful and critical at the same time.

I often find myself having imaginary conversations with my ex-wife -- who tells me I just did something the wrong way. 
 
And concerning the devilish Miss Adler's quick mental visit, no mystery there.  That lovely lady pops into my head all the time!
 
Oops, here she is again!

Last edited by Bruce Cook (January 27, 2014 5:37 pm)

I have nothing against her...
But I don't want to see her anywhere near Sherlock.

Why is she here?

Swanpride wrote:

Irene does want money in the end, though. That's what her endgame is about.

Not just that, it's sort of what SiB is all about, the whole thing is one large elaborate scheme to blackmail the British Government. What Irene says to Mycroft when she hands him her demands: "A list of my requests; and some ideas about my protection once they’re granted." and then "I’d say it wouldn’t blow much of a hole in the wealth of the nation – but then I’d be lying."
Whether her original motive with collecting the information was blackmail is a bit ambiguous for her words in the same scene: "I had all this stuff, never knew what to do with it. Thank God for the consultant criminal.", but she was the one who contacted Moriarty not the other way around.

This have made me consider the effects of personality, because though both Irene and Magnussen are ultimately blackmailers I like Irene. Magnussen I would have no problems shooting myself. But then, the reasons we like or dislike another person is rarely rational.


N.B. Thanks to Ariane DeVere on LiveJournal for transcriping SiB, the quotes are from there.

No she just photographs other peoples' communications.

Whereas she did it for money...

I was mistaken, of course, when I said Irene didn't trade her sensitive info for money.  But it occurred to me there's a subtle difference between extorting money from someone in exchange for not revealing damaging personal information (like a typical blackmailer) and Irene's offer to cell the phone to Mycroft (and thus the British government) because it contained embarrassing secrets related to highly placed individuals.

Sherlock had the phone for six months, and he X-rayed it to determine what security measures it incorporated to protect the data.  He learned that it had devices that would destroy the hard drive (and thus the info) if it was opened.  While negotiating with Irene, Mycroft threatened to simply destroy the phone -- but Irene countered with "Fine, good idea  . . . unless the lives of millions of British criticizes depend on the information you're about to burn."

She didn't go into greater detail, but Mycroft understood that she was referring to things like the terrorist threat that involved the 747 filled with dead bodies the government had planned to use to trick the terrorist.  In fact, the conversation between Mycroft, Sherlock, and Irene actually started inside the 747 before cutting back to 221B where negotiations for the sale of the phone continued.

I think that was done as a subtle hint that Irene's phone contained more than just dirty little secrets about the royal family.  In other words, there was intelligence information on the phone of vital importance to Britain -- not just embarrassing personal habits or shifty deals that the government wanted to cover up.

Irene was perfectly free to do whatever she wished with the information -- both the secrets and the valuable intelligence data.  She could withhold it or she could give it freely to the government or she could sell it to foreign powers who would use it against England.

What she chose to do was sell it to the British government for money and other considerations, including their guarantee to protect her from her enemies.  Viewed in this light, she was just being practical -- and perhaps even just a tiny bit patriotic.

Considering all this, the transaction more closely resembled a legitimate business arrangement than a case of blackmail.  Irene never threatened to sell it to someone else if Mycroft didn't take her deal (although this would be a possibility they would all be aware of).

After Mycroft agrees to her terms, Irene said she got the idea of selling the information to the government from Moriarty.  She said,  "I had all this stuff and never knew what to do with it."

That's where I got the notion that she didn't seem to be using her collection of personal secrets for pure blackmail.  She also says Moriarty didn't even ask for anything for himself.  She said he "just likes to case trouble."

That seems to be equally true of Irene. Sherlock tells her he understands her need for the thrill of the game -- but the scene ends with Sherlock defeating her because she had became emotionally attached to him, something he determined when he had taken her pulse as they held hands earlier in the episode, and he saw her eyes dilate as she gazed at him while they sat by the fireplace. 

A tear rolls down Irene's lovely cheek as Sherlock slowly types in the four-character password for her phone and then holds it up before her anguished face.

I AM SHER LOCKED

Lord a'mighty, what a scene.  And what an episode.  And what a woman.  I'd buy Girl Scout cookies from that lady any day. 

Last edited by Bruce Cook (January 30, 2014 5:24 pm)

I always thought that this scene also plays in Sherlock's mind. Why would Sherlock use several laptops when he can just have different windows for each person he talks to?
This is just a way to show us that this is not real aka not the first line of story telling. Sherlock visualises different talks/internet chats with different women by creating a laptop for each of them with a different background on it to differentiate and remember them later.
 

A very good theory! I never noticed myself what John is wearing in that scene.