Modern Day Plague Argument: Mankind has become too dependent on computers,
and we as a society are covering up our errors and not facing the facts, to
avoid panic. About four years ago, a new pop headline came hot of the press
rumoring something about home computers having problems when the year 2000 hit.
The year 2000, that's six years away, people thought. Many believed in six years
it would be fixed. Thus, the headline got thrown into the archives along with
egg yolks being high in cholesterol and the FBI and the CIA being against each
other. Well, today the computer problem has resurrected itself. The downside is
that, the second round of hype, as some have called it, is being looked upon
less seriously than before. What is the problem anyway, what's the big deal?
Many have asked this question without a definite answer, weakening any bit of
concern. Here it is put simply. All computers contain small processors that
contain a current date. This processor comes in millions of different types and
has been for close to 30 years. These processors are responsible for simple and
complex operations and in some cases, for recording data. All of these functions
require dates to perform.
Well, the problem hits when one looks at how all processors have been made.
All they contain are six numbers, 2 for the day, 2 for the month and 2 for the
year. What about when 99 wants to flip to 00? The computer thinks 00 is before
99. Therefore, many go haywire and perhaps crash. The only way to fix it, is by
replacing or up dating ALL processors to record four digits for the year. When
this problem first resurfaced about eight months back, the few that were paying
attention realized the danger. Many suggested the idea of the world collapsing.
This drew enough rally to form a congressional committee in May of (19)98, less
than two years to the millennium. Y2K, as it is now known, was targeted more
toward government and business application rather than home PC's. Why is that?
Mainly because there is much more on the line. All businesses, utilities and
transportation companies could be seriously affected. This also includes all
forms of data storage as well, like the Census Bureau, IRS and Social Security.
The unfortunate part about specifying to these main groups, is that the public
is left out. Up until now, there have been only a handful of T.V. news reports
about Y2K. This is a definite problem for several reasons. Today's culture is
tuned to nightly news for all the issues. For many, it's all that they know. The
only in depth documents on Y2K can be found in section E5 of news papers or on
the internet. Two sources that might require a little time to research. Another
problem is that most of the population thinks of computers (processors) as
sitting on top of desks accompanied with a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Well, if
that were the case, it wouldn't be all that hard to fix. The real problem exists
when all processors must be updated or replaced manually.
