The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has come to an end and, as the journalist's pack up their blackberries and laptops, a dirty little secret regarding the success of the exercise may now just be coming into view.
According to journalist sources, the main talking point amongst the jaded press did not concern the environment, the money markets, nor even the economy in general. No. It had to do with the fact that the vast majority of scribblers present experienced 4 to 5 daily browser crashes when using the latest edition of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
To quote one scribe, "It got so bad, what with all the dinging sounds of browsers failing, that you couldn't hear what the forum speakers were saying. Seriously, if the future is 'creative capitalism' then we're basically 'up the creek without a paddle'.
In response, Bill Gates was heard to say, "Well you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink now can you?"
U2 frontman Bono chimed in, "Maybe it's a situation where you are unable to see the forest for the trees."
This banter of idioms between distinguished speakers and the crowd of journalists continued through the rest of the afternoon plenary session until John Cleese, dressed as the 'French taunter', entered and gave a short but odiferous presentation on the environmental costs of bovine methane production.
