CNET Top 5: Economic indicators Video

CNET Top 5: Economic indicators Video Transcript

>> Tom Merritt: Welcome to CNET Top 5 where each time we meet we count down another hot CNET list. I'm Tom Merritt. We are here at the Consumer Electronics Show - a.k.a. CES - looking for signs of how the economy is doing. So let us help you count down the Top 5 CES Economic Indicators. Coming in at Number 5, ice sculptures: a sure sign the economy is heating up. There's lots of melting ice at company parties. Unfortunately the only evidence of an actual ice sculpture at this year's CES is this fuzzy photo allegedly taken at the Digital Experience Press Event. Cryptozoologists are currently analyzing it for signs of forgery. Coming in at Number 4, swag. You know the old saying "The better the swag, the better the chance of ending a recession and returning to solid growth rate returns." You don't know that saying? Anyway the swag at CES 2009 is kind of small and sort of rare, but it's not all bad. [Inaudible] giving away coffee. Another espresso please? Up to Number 3, cell phone congestion. I had a problem sending a text message the other day for the first time at the convention and I couldn't figure out why until I realized I'm at CES. The cell phone network never works at CES. It's not designed to work when 400 thousand people try to use it at the same time, so hence another old adage: if you're a caller and trouble's the dollar. Sliding in at Number 2, empty booths. This convention is full of hundreds of exhibitor spaces at a premium. There should not be any empty space. People should be clamoring for this. I'm supposedly - according to the map - standing in the middle of the APC Booth: very minimalist. Nice use of purple carpets. And there certainly shouldn't be booth space filled with leather couches and people just sitting around. The emptier the space, the emptier are your pockets. Alright, it's time to get to our Number 1. The most important economic indicator to watch for at CES: at Number 1 it's lines; coffee lines, bathroom lines, massage lines, but particularly cab lines. The cab lines at CES are notoriously long but as you can see, I have room to shoot an entire video in this one. If you're not waiting at least an hour for a cab at CES, the economy's in the toilet. Well that's it for this edition of CNET Top 5. Check back next year to find out how those economic indicators are doing. For now, I'm here in the Pegasus Booth. I'm going to try to win something because I can't afford to buy anything in this economy. Hit it.