The Year 2000 computer problem or the Y2K bug, as it is called, involves computers not recognizing the Year 2000 as valid information. The reason for this is because computer programs store the date in only two digits. For example 1998 is stored as "98" and the Year 2000 being stored as "00". This means that a computer will think that the Year 2000 occurred before the year 1999. Computers will read 2000 as 1900, which will cause them not to process date information correctly. The problem affects computer applications and operating systems computer hardware, as well as, many other systems that use computer technology (Tippins, 1998).

The cause of the problem dates back to the 1

Gillingham, P. (1996, December 30). 2000 could be an unhappy new year for many businesses. Pacific Business News, 34 (42), 8.

To make the transition easier for everyone, people should call on their technical support or computer vendor to find out what their intentions are to fix the problem and find out if they will have software available to find and fix problems with their system. If an individual plans on buying a computer, they should ask if it is compatible for the Year 2000 problem and find out what software and technical support is available in order to make the new system compatible. Also, individuals should make it a habit to use four digits for the year (Farm Credit Corporation, 1998). The government should also get more involved and start looking at the problem more seriously. "President Clinton signed Executive Order 13073 chartering the president's Year 2000 Conversion Council, a high-level, coordinated effort to update the federal government's "mission critical" computer systems" (Roberts, 1998). Clinton named John Koskinen chairman of the year 2000 Conversion Council.

The types of systems that will be affected due to the bug include everything that has been designed over the last 30 years and that has not yet been updated. The bug will affect many things that we use in our daily lives. Pacific Business News quotes Gary Caulfield as saying, "Anything with a computer clock that drives a software program will be effected by this" (Gillingham, 1996). Computer systems route electricity to our homes and control communication through means of televisions, radios, and phones. The ATM, which is a computer system, has been made convenient for people

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)