POSTSCRIPT: This website was frozen on December 31, 1999, as a permanent document on how all of us acted and reacted to the Y2K myth from 1997 to 1999. There will be no updates. Enjoy reading all of the emails, especially the wild ones from 1998. - David Robert Loblaw, 03 January 2000
Millennium Bug is a misnomer
Millennium ...
The Year 2000 is not the start of the next millennium. Even if it was, this date-field issue has nothing to do with thousand year cycles. If computers existed in 1899, we'd have called it The Year 1900 Problem.... Bug
A bug is an unforeseen blip in software and other development. Microsnot is the world leader in this. The Year 2000 issue is just that -- an issue, not a bug.What it is
Decades ago, well-dressed computer programmers collectively and individually decided not to include the unnecessary "19" century digits before every year date. By doing so, this saved a lot of valuable, expensive, and rare memory space (back then). It was a responsible and logical decision.
If they did not do this, our current computer technology would probably be hovering around the early 1980's mark. People today would be drooling over possibly owning a Radio Shack TRS-80.
On New Year's Eve 1999, when we flip from 31/12/99 to 01/01/00, many computers won't know what Year 00 is and will assume either it's 1900 or nil-input.
This is an important issue that must be examined. Any company, organization, or government that doesn't take the time to look at how their systems will operate in the Year 00 is inviting disaster.
But ... most companies, organizations, and governments are doing or have already done so. The only reason to panic or worry would be if no one was doing anything about it. The issue does indeed exist; it's just not as gigantic a problem as it has been inflated to be.
If you do nothing to check your business computers, you may have some trouble on Saturday morning, January 1, 2000. If you own or run a company and any of your Computer People mumble, "I don't know if we can fix the millennium bug," fire them today. This issue will probably be one of the simplest computer problems they'll ever encounter in their careers.
Computer programmers create actual, brilliant programs out of mere ideas in their heads. For them to go through millions of lines of old code (many armed with rapid, automated testing tools) to find every date-field is child's play, not to mention damn dull.
Oh-oh! -- don't forget about the million/billion/zillion embedded chips and embedded systems. These cannot be re-programmed or upgraded. These are molded into solid cement and are unchangeable. You cannot get out of bed with them. Examine how many are actually date-aware ...
Planes will not fall out of the sky, elevators will not drop, governments will not collapse. The Year 2000 is going to arrive with a yawn.
If you don't believe me, click on this mushroom cloud graphic to read the worst case scenario from a guy named Gary North. After preaching mass destruction and economic chaos, he admits at the end of the article: "I'm not a programmer. My Ph.D. is in history. I take the historian's view: things are interconnected in ways we can barely understand." It's a very entertaining article. Gary describes it as, "ideal for introducing the problem to wives, in-laws, and other skeptics."
After reading the article, click on this thumb-down graphic to read the thoughts of a guy who explains why Gary wants there to be big problems on 01/01/00.
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