crystal triangles. reporter: has it ever not worked. my first year the ball was three seconds late. reporter: now? now we re tied to gps. we ve been on time every year since. reporter: if the person pushing the button doesn t push it or is late pushing it, does this thing start anyway? does it automatically this thing is going to start one minute we learned our lesson. it s tied right in. 60 seconds it starts going. we have nearly 1 million people here joined by over 1 billion people who are watching this ball and counting down together. there s nothing else like it when you have that many people counting down the final seconds of the new year. it s truly magical. very educational thanks to richard quest. president obama is neither a comedian for a car fanatic, but