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Y2K

Less than two years until the year 2000. Two seemingly small digits may turn January 1, 2000 from a worldwide celebration into a universal nightmare. With computers mistaking the year 2000 for 1900, virtually all businesses that use dates will be affected. Not only will the companies be affected, but they are paying millions upon millions of dollars in order for computers to recognize the difference between the years 2000 and 1900. The year 2000 computer bug is a huge problem that our world must face. In order to explain how to solve the "millennium bug", it is a good idea to be informed about exactly what the year 2000 problem is. The year 2000 industry expert, Peter de Jager, described the problem quite well. "We programmed computers to store the date in the following format: dd/mm/yy. This only allows 2 digits for the year. January 1, 2000 would be stored as 01/01/00. But the computer will interpret this as January 1, 1900- not 2000" (de Jager 1). The '19' is "hard-coded" into computer hardware and software. Since there are only 2 physical spaces for the year in this date format, after '99', the only logical choice is to reset the number to '00'. The year 2000 problem is unlike any other problem in modern history for several reasons. William Adams points out some of the most important ones. "Time is running out- the Year 2000 is inevitable! The problem will occur simultaneously worldwide, time zones withstanding. It affects all languages and platforms, hardware & software. The demand for solutions will exceed the supply. Survivors will survive big, losers will lose big. There is no 'silver bullet' that is going to fix things" (Adams 2). "It is too big and too overwhelming even for [Bill Gates and] Microsoft" (Widder 3). Separate, any one of these points makes Y2K, a common abbreviation for the year 2000 problem, an addition to the obstacle. Combined, they form what seems more like a hideous monster than an insignificant bug. The impact of Y2K on society is...