Memo to the Swiss: keep making the chocolate

So farewell then, trusty wristwatch, invented by the Swiss in 1896 and made popular during the First World War (the British Army worked out that attacks were more effective when everyone fired their weapon at the same time). Reports reach Mousetrap HQ that sales of wristwatches to US teenagers and young adults slumped by 10 per cent during 2005, because everyone is now using their mobile phones, PDAs and, yes, their iPods, to tell the time. You can read all about it in Friday's Times (or online). Alas, I am one of the consumers who has given up his self-winding TAG Heuer (self-winding meaning it stops every time I take it off) for the clock on my phone. But even that's not perfect. On New Year's Eve, my friends and I counted down to midnight using our phones. At the crucial moment, we discovered they were out of synch by up to four minutes, resulting in premature snogs, black eyes, spilled drinks, and much confusion.

We'll keep the TV on next year.