Y2K
Everybody is wondering what is going to happen in the year 2000. Nobody really knows exactly what is going to happen. Nevertheless, a lot of business people are making money using scare tactics and hype to make people nervous about the future. With all of the technology in today's society and everyone modernizing his or her computer, there will not likely be a problem in the new millennium. The issue of Y2K has been going on for several years now. Hundreds of articles have been written about the Y2K issue. The first article every written on the subject was back in the 80's. "An analyst at an auto manufacturer presented the first article on the Year 2000 and it was published in the 1984 issue of ComputerWorld. Then he got fired for pushing management past the point of irritation on the subject." (Ulrich and Hayes 6). This shows that the people knew that there was going to be a problem, but nobody wanted to mess with the issue at the time. However, Y2K has become one of the most popular issues in all media. If computer geniuses had started working on the problem back when it was first brought up, they probably would not have had to rush to make sure the programs are going to work.
Ulrich, Wiliam M. and Ian S. Hayes. The Year 2000 Software Crisis. New Jersey: Yourdon Press, 1997. "What is the Y2K Problem?" Mitre Y2K Team. 29 Mar. 1999. (29 Mar. 1999). The stock market will probably drop a little, but not crash. Everyone getting his or her own money out will cause a shortage. Foreign markets may be more liable for trouble in the year 2000. "International mutual funds or stocks of many foreign companies are riskier because generally most foreign companies are further behind addressing Y2K problems than are U.S. companies...." (Newberry 90). When people fail to upgrade their computers, trouble may start, because computers will read the date as 1900 instead of 2000. This error can cause some confusion in the data files and may cause the computer to get inextricable and have problems. Most big companies have already taken care of this. Even though the big industries have been working on this for at least a couple of years, they still do not know exactly what is going to happen. After getting the programs installed on the computer, there still may be another problem. Some devices, such as a refrigerator or even a heating and cooling system, may have an embedded chip inside of them. If the embedded chip has a calendar inside of it, it may need to be fixed or the whole appliance may have to be replaced. "Occasionally, an embedded chip controls the actual, live operation of a device. More often, such chips control only maintenance cycles" (Seymour 103). This tells me that the embedded chips could be a problem. The only way someone could find out which appliance has this bothersome chip is by asking the manufacturer of each appliance. Because of the hassle of contacting every manufacture of their machines, businesses will not worry much about the embedded systems until they fail.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Symantec's Norton, Annandale Va, Ulrich Hayes, Y2K Joke, Y2K Hundreds, Glen Buco, Y2K Team, Y2K PCs, Magazine Apr, ABA Journal, stock market, downloading programs, getting programs, norton 2000, embedded chip, stock market crash, upgrade computers, name brand, newberry 90, downloading people, 29 mar 1999, foreign companies,
Approximate Word count = 1277
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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