In general, here at gadgetshop HQ, we tend not to be a shower of lardy clock-watchers forever scanning the nearest binary clock to see whether it's 0110 o'clock and time to fetch the Austin Princess and be off home for tea.

But such is the sheer and unabated complexity of modern life that there's always something - some hideous family event or anniversary - to count down to, look forward to, or otherwise fear or loathe. Like a birthday, anniversary, elapsed time since meeting one's spouse, elapsed time since one's last sexual encounter, and so forth.

In fact, look upon it that way and there's no end of things to time, calculate and count down to with relish. Time since last Mr Kipling Lemon Slice? Time to go till London 2012 opening ceremony? Time till next tea break? Such timings and future anniversaries are the very meat and two veg of this marvellous little device, by which one can express one's very life in forever changing numbers.

Relentlessly counting down the days until one's birthday, Christmas, next holiday, lunch hour, home time, and next weekend, it also counts up the elapsed time since one started one's job, met one's current squeeze and last had intimate congress with a person other than one's self. All human life is indeed here.

Oh yes, and another thing. It's ultra user-friendly and works all the way to 2050. It's also a clock. But who wants a clock when you can have a device that tells one it's been 2 hours, 47 minutes and 13 seconds since one's last wee?