"Five Y2K Myths" by Michael J. Miller, Editor-In-Chief of PC Magazine
It's time to take the Year 2000 problem seriously -- without panic, but with a healthy respect for the glitches it may cause. Let's start by tackling five widespread Y2K myths.
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Myth
1: The Y2K problem only affects
mainframes. I wish it were true, but it's not; PCs have the Y2K problem as well. In fact, the problem has nothing to do with the type of computer, only with the programmer's desire to store dates in two digits instead of four. Even "compliant" applications can have problems if you use two-digit instead of four-digit dates in a macro or calculation. |
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Myth
2: The problem will occur at midnight
on 1/1/00. If only it were that simple! Actually, some of the problems started years ago. For instance, credit card systems don't accept cards with an expiration date ending in 00. And September 9, 1999 is a date that some people worry about, because some programmers used 9/9/99 to indicate an invalid date field. Others worry about the 99th day of 1999, which is April 9th. Mark your calendar. In several places. |
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Myth
3: The world as we know it will end
on 1/1/00. Probably not. Large businesses are well aware of the problem and have every incentive to fix the big problems before then. Many smaller businesses aren't taking an aggressive approach, believing they aren't that dependent on computer systems. Let's hope they're right. My colleague Jim Seymour isn't quite as optimistic. He has some specific worries that may get you thinking.  Click for more. |
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Myth 4: The problems are well known. Sort of, but the difficulty is in finding all the places where these problems show up. Many of two-digit programs were written years ago, and no one remembers all aspects of them. It will be impossible for programmers to find every such system in the next year and a half. |
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Myth 5: Y2K is just a technical problem. No such luck. The legal, public relations and political issues are just as important. Some claim software developers should be legally responsible for making sure every version of software ever sold is Y2K-ready. Politically, my biggest concern is that legislators won't want to spend money to fix an "intangible" problem on government computers. PR-wise, I expect a lot more scare stories about how planes will fall from the sky and power will fail everywhere. For a more grounded survey of the situation and steps you can take, be sure to visit PC Magazine's Year 2000 Resource Center. Click for more. |
Updated
: Tuesday November 28, 2000 14:51