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The Year
2000 Computer Problem
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Overview:
Back during the 1950's and 1960's, in the earlier days of computing, programmers
logically decided that they could save space on computer programs by only using two
digits to identify the year. For example, October 23, 1968 could be entered in as
10/23/68. Unfortunately, once the year 2000 rolls around however, many computers
are going to have difficulty differentiating between the years 1900 and 2000. For
some businesses, it may just be a simple matter of using a newer program to correct
the situation. For others however, especially those who have massive networks and
numerous computers connected to it, this is no small task to correct. It could mean
serious consequences to data as well as microchips that rely on timing to work.
Year
2K Compliance:
These days, computer systems need to be "Year 2K Compliant" to be considered
acceptable. For most computers, it means both the hardware as well as the software.
While your business may be using machines and chips that are year 2K compliant, we
live in a society that is deeply inter-twined and we rely on many others for simple
day-to-day resources. For example, how many businesses can function without a FAX
machine or a pager or a phone system or a surveillance system, or an alarm system,
or elevators, escalators or properly timed public transportation? Even though you
may be Year 2K compliant, it is estimated that currently less than half of the businesses
are fully compliant (as of July 1998). Even if your company becomes fully compliant
before the year 2000, if one of your suppliers doesn't, and you can't fulfill orders
because of it, that could make you a casualty of the Year 2000 bug also.
It is the reliance that we have on other businesses that may come and "bite"
us. Some authors call it the "doomsday clock" and others call it our "date
with destiny". Scott Schuster, president of Intuitive Technology Consultants
(ITC) quoted one survey that warned that as many as 18-20% of all companies may go
out of business on January 1, 2000. Partly because of computer crashes and partly
because of the expense to correct their current systems which run their businesses
would be too cost prohibitive for them to stay viable and competitive in the marketplace.
The government, the utility companies, transportation, health care facilities and
banking industries are all massive companies and services that must be fully compliant
in order for there not to be massive breakdowns in critical services. For these businesses,
it can mean looking at over a hundred billion of lines of code to identify where
the problems may lie, and then going in and correcting them. When you have thousands
of computer systems and billions of lines of code, this can run millions of dollars
for some companies alone. Sometimes the only feasible solution is to merge with another
company that is compliant and transfer your database over and begin using their system.
Looking up old data in files on programs that are no longer used will create problems
for people that archive data on programs that are no longer supported. They can either
transfer the data onto newer media or into newer programs, or they may never be able
to accurately retrieve their information.
This will become especially obvious on programs that calculate interest rates, or
do projections, or control maintenance schedules based upon prior data. You may get
billed for one hundred years worth of interest, or have credit cards that aren't
recognized, or have dates that don't makes sense because it will interpret it as
one year old instead of one hundred and one years old.
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