As we cruised ever closer to the year 2000, there was a growing sense of anticipation everywhere. Something was about to happen. A new millennium was a big deal! The last thousand years saw almost unimaginable change, with the Earth’s population exploding from 300 million to over 7 billion. At the start of the last millennium, the fastest way to spread ideas was to painstakingly copy everything down by hand.
I was actually one of the two IT people in the company I worked for at the time, and the two of us updated the computers and servers and software for Y2K. It was just some extra work. The right people did overthink it and came up with solutions, which we implemented. I remember the catastrophizing. I worried a little, but definitely thought it was over the top. Maybe I should watch the movie Office Space and see how it compares with what I remember.
The year 2038 problem (also known as Y2038, Y2K38, Y2K38 superbug or the Epochalypse is a time computing problem that leaves some computer systems unable to represent times after 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038. More here:
I will never forget the Y2K issue. In Nigeria, we thought the world would come to an end. We watched while countries passed from 1999 to 2000. Nothing happened. The next day, the world didn't crash. We were so happy. Parties started over the issue.
I agree there was a lot of hype, as there was a lot of potential for problems. But there was some reality. I worked in software support in a major corporation, I know we went through a lot of code in the systems our own group supported, and did find - and correct - some coding errors. As did several other groups. Maybe our upper management just ended up saying in press releases that systems always had been error free, and would remain so.
Do you think that all the crazy attention (which seemed like overkill on January 1st) was exactly what prevented something worse from taking place? That's sort of the impression I'm left with, although I think the rest of the world seems to think it was just silly.
I think the hype helped ensure that behind the scenes managers would take it seriously and direct some resources to it. I know we did, and did find some errors.
Some of the programmers had a 'skunkworks' mentality, and were proud of it. Clever code, no comments, designs worked out on a napkin in the lunchroom. Luckily it was not really mission critical.
New Year's Eve 1999 my fiancé, who is now my husband, and I bought sparkling wine, beer, and appetizers while everyone else emptied the shelves of toilet paper, bottled water, and other prep essentials. The person working check out told us we had the right idea. Alcohol definitely helps the case of the Mondays too.
So funny! When the early months of the pandemic were happening, before it really hit the US in earnest and nothing was closing down yet, we stocked up on some TP and stuff like that. I immediately hearkened back to Y2K and thought it was most likely for nothing, but recognized there was indeed some chance for prolonged shortages.
I remember the Y2K panic vividly. I definitely heard many people say that essentially all electronic devices would outright stop functioning. Somewhat more vaguely, I recall that "Y2K Ready" or "Y2K Proof" was a temporary branding fad where you could purchase a PC that wouldn't fail with the year switch.
The Apocalypse is always in front of us and the Apocalypse is always here... somewhere. Once we understand that, it makes a lot more sense.
I was actually one of the two IT people in the company I worked for at the time, and the two of us updated the computers and servers and software for Y2K. It was just some extra work. The right people did overthink it and came up with solutions, which we implemented. I remember the catastrophizing. I worried a little, but definitely thought it was over the top. Maybe I should watch the movie Office Space and see how it compares with what I remember.
I would love to hear what you think of Office Space if you end up watching it!
Another one in the pipeline is Y2K38 problem.
The year 2038 problem (also known as Y2038, Y2K38, Y2K38 superbug or the Epochalypse is a time computing problem that leaves some computer systems unable to represent times after 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038. More here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
What are the chances that we will start working on this problem before 2030?
I'm thinking 2037 is a good year to begin work.
I will never forget the Y2K issue. In Nigeria, we thought the world would come to an end. We watched while countries passed from 1999 to 2000. Nothing happened. The next day, the world didn't crash. We were so happy. Parties started over the issue.
That's awesome. What a weird time for all of us!
I agree there was a lot of hype, as there was a lot of potential for problems. But there was some reality. I worked in software support in a major corporation, I know we went through a lot of code in the systems our own group supported, and did find - and correct - some coding errors. As did several other groups. Maybe our upper management just ended up saying in press releases that systems always had been error free, and would remain so.
Do you think that all the crazy attention (which seemed like overkill on January 1st) was exactly what prevented something worse from taking place? That's sort of the impression I'm left with, although I think the rest of the world seems to think it was just silly.
I think the hype helped ensure that behind the scenes managers would take it seriously and direct some resources to it. I know we did, and did find some errors.
Some of the programmers had a 'skunkworks' mentality, and were proud of it. Clever code, no comments, designs worked out on a napkin in the lunchroom. Luckily it was not really mission critical.
New Year's Eve 1999 my fiancé, who is now my husband, and I bought sparkling wine, beer, and appetizers while everyone else emptied the shelves of toilet paper, bottled water, and other prep essentials. The person working check out told us we had the right idea. Alcohol definitely helps the case of the Mondays too.
So funny! When the early months of the pandemic were happening, before it really hit the US in earnest and nothing was closing down yet, we stocked up on some TP and stuff like that. I immediately hearkened back to Y2K and thought it was most likely for nothing, but recognized there was indeed some chance for prolonged shortages.
Office Space. One of my favorites.
To see that something wasn’t a problem after the fact (eg.Y2K)may mean we can see something isn’t a problem before the fact.
I remember the Y2K panic vividly. I definitely heard many people say that essentially all electronic devices would outright stop functioning. Somewhat more vaguely, I recall that "Y2K Ready" or "Y2K Proof" was a temporary branding fad where you could purchase a PC that wouldn't fail with the year switch.
We just love our scares and panics, don't we?
It's like our superpower (although hey, in this case, maybe some of the panic led to better prep?).