Y2k Hope or Hype
You wake up in the morning of January 1, 2000, and you look at your alarm clock, the infamous flashing 12:00. Why didn't it go off? There was no storm last night, no power outages. The world's biggest problem has just begun, the millennium bug has spread across the globe. You try to call your friends, no dial tone. Could this Twilight Zone episode be happening? Possibly, but we don't know for sure. Could the predictions of the year 2000 be true or a lot of scare tactics for the public? There are quite a few issues to deal with in this world wide dilemma.Most people don't know the reason behind the Y2k bug. Most people will say, "This won't happen, they have it all under control." Even if it doesn't, you better be aware of it. Everyone around the world is computer dependent, no matter how you look at it. First, let's look at the problem. Back in the 60's and 70's when computers were being "born" they were very expensive, and in order to save memory costs, we designed computer codes to read only two digits instead of four. The computer reads dates as MM/DD/YY, so for the date March 8, 1999, the computer would read it as, 03/08/99. What will happen if we input Jan. 1, 2000? Will 01/01/00 appear as Jan. 1, 19
What is the government doing about this? They are working very hard to get prepared for the new millenium, but are they ready? One of the lagging branches is Social Security which keeps track of everyone in the our country. Next is the military, nuclear reactors, and air transport systems. The Department of Defense reported that only 72 percent of its "mission-critical systems" are ready. Also, what about the nations linked up to us? They are also in jeopardy because many are far behind. The Senate concluded that local power blackouts will be likely, but national power breakdown is not. If they do happen it will only be for about a week, but in major metropolitan areas they shouldn't be more than 48 hours. About 95 percent of telephone systems are ready for Y2K, but no reliable data exists on readiness to test data networks, cellular or satellite communications systems, or 1,400 regional carriers. The so-called "doomsayers" say that we will fall into global recession and have a recall of another 'depression' as in the 30's era. Stock markets might fall because you don't know what companies are exactly ready for Y2k. ATM's, banks, and your employer may not be able to transact money because of this. One suggestion is to keep some cash handy in case this ever occurs. As mentioned earlier, grocery stores rely on computers to deliver goods, take inventory, and even to scan for pricing. How is the supermarket going to keep their food stocked? How are you going to buy the food in the first place? Tom Oleson, a research director at IDC, stated that Y2K is a date-coding problem. Implying, "the role that dates play in a business is critical to whether or not the problem will exist." Going to the problem of electrical compa
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Approximate Word count = 1168
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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