The Year 2000 Computer Problem Essay, Research Paper
THE YEAR 2000 COMPUTER BUG Beginning foremost with an introduction to illustrate precisely what is Y2K? Y2K is an abbreviated name for Year 2000. K is short for “kilo”, meaning “thousand”. Year 2000 computer bug refers to the possible, and the probable, glitch that computers will have on midnight, January 1, 2000. First, we need to explain the definitions of what the “millennium” and “bug” are. The millennium means a 1000-year. The bug is an unforeseen blip in software and other development. The year 2000 is not the start of the next millennium. Even if it was, this date-field issue has nothing to do with thousand year cycles. If the computers existed in 1898, we would have called it the year 1900 computer bug problem. Inappropriate managing of year values in calendar dates field’s caused the year 2000 problem in software and firmware. Primarily, it has been the use of only two digits to represent year values. When two digits are used, 00 represents the year 2000, often taken to mean 1900 instead. This causes incorrect results when the difference between dates is calculated and when dates are compared or sorted. Computers have been programmed to store dates in the following format: dd/mm/yy. This only allows two digits for the year. January 1,2000 would be stored as 01/01/00. Nevertheless, the computer will translate this as January 1, 1900 not 2000. Since there are only two physical spaces for the year in this date format, after “99″, the only logical choice is to reset the number to “00″. When we flip from 31/12/99 to 01/01/00, many computers will not know what year 00 is and will assume either it is 1900 or nil-input.The cause and effect of the “alleged” millennium bug can be expressed in this fictitious tale: “Robin Taylor reported to work on the first day of the New Year and the new century. Driving in had been difficult, but thankfully, she hadn’t had to drive far. Some traffic lights were working, but those at the big intersections on the busiest roads were not. What a mess! However, she was finally at the office, and only a little late. “What’s this? The building’s freezing. Maintenance must have been partying too much to bother to turn the heat back on after the holiday,” she thought. Robin pushed the button that would call the elevator for her and found that the thing was even slower than usual. In fact, she saw no indication at all that it was even working. Late already because of the wild drive in, she decided to waste no more time waiting for the elevator and took the stairs to her fifth floor office, where more than simple inconvenience awaited her. A few of the office’s PCs were functional, most were not. She found that she could get to the Internet, but being there was much like being all dressed up and no place to go-she could get there, but was able to do nothing once she arrived.” One of the most visible effects of the year 2000 bug will be in one principal industry; banking. In banking, it has been speculated that year 2000 problems will extend no further than internal departments and that customers will never see any effects at all, but it has also been speculated that banks’ results could span several types ofcustomer-impacting problems. It could be that bank statements will be distorted with a blend of accurate and inaccurate information. ATM cards will no longer be functional. Banks will lose accounts altogether, with the result that the depositor loses everything that he or she cannot prove he or she had at the close of business on December 31, 1999. Depositors stand to lose assets if their bank has no documents of their accounts after the turn of the century. “Of year 2000 experts surveyed, 38 percent report that they intend to sell stocks and withdrawal cash savings prior to December 31, 1999 so that their funds will be safe, until it is known whether their financial institutions have indeed fully repaired their date discrepancies. While that number is disconcerting, it also reflects the intentions of 62 percent to make no changes at all in their financial arrangements.” “Myths, rumors and truth are soaring like birds of passage around uncovered edibles regarding the year 2000. Here is just a few of the most popular ones. Keep in mind some of these are true:A. Banks will shut down.B. Nuclear weapons will be accidentally launched.C. Police are issuing tickets to drivers whose licenses “expired” in 00.D. Automobiles with advanced Engine Management Systems may not start.E. There may be planned blackouts/brownouts the first month or so of 2000 to fix things.F. Land mines will explode.G. The US Department of Defense will shut down.H. The building security system won’t let anyone in.I. Some fire engines may not start.J. The Dow Jones average will dip to 4000.K. Business contracts may be 99 years delinquent.L. A Toys-R-Us outlet had its entire checkout system knocked out when someone used a credit card with a 00-expiration date.M. Digital watches will go blank.N. PC clocks will race ahead.O. Callers could be billed for 100-year telephone calls.P. People may receive zillion dollar invoices from their utility resulting in service being shut off.” The year 2000 computer bug will cause additional problems in an unassuming way. Universally people will fault many things, beginning with paying child support, tickets, credit card bills, mortgages payments, overdrawn accounts causing NSF checks, etc. on the year 2000. Hopefully; many if not all companies will have the year 2000 computer bug stabilized prior to the January 1,2000.When the year 2000 computer bug was first spoken of, some people said it was no big deal, there is a straightforward approach to solving the year 2000 bug by simply changing the 2-digit date fields to 4-digits ones. As the year 2000 proceeds closer and closer, companies are losing precious time in order to stop the millennium bug. The deadline is fixed. The price of survival is high and the only reward is the hope of continuing to operate in the world of commerce and industry. Businesses that continue into the next millennium will enjoy the happiness of existence. Companies that fail to act now will probably crumble under their own weight. The other alternative to addressing the year 2000 is to go out of business! Although the relative ease with which the date problem could be postponed and thoroughly repaired, it still remains likely that there will be short-term problems for the individual associated with the turn of the century. Unspecified appliances may not work or not work properly. Computer-controlled building maintenance systems may require manual overrides in order to be heated or to have functional elevators. Stock exchanges may be closed for a day while the system checks are run to ensure integrity of data. Grocery stores may temporarily reestablish to individual pricing and may need to resort to calculators, rather than cash registers, at the checkout.While it may or may not happen that airline flights are delayed or rerouted. The idea of planes falling from the skies at the stroke of midnight occurring in reach of January 1, 2000 need to remain in the realm of the supermarket tabloids. At the same time questions, such as: Will car doors unlock and the engine turn over? Will the pumps provide gas? Will the ATM’s provide cash? Will the banks be open? Will the roads be open? Will you have investments? Will you have accounts? Will you have a job?It is less than two years until the year 2000. Two seemingly small digits may turn January 1,2000 from a worldwide celebration into a universal nightmare. With computers mistaking the year 2000 for 1900, virtually all businesses that use dates will be affected. Not only will the companies be affected, but also they are paying millions upon millions of dollars in order for computers to recognize the difference between the years 2000 and 1900. The year 2000 computer bug is a huge problem that our world must face. “One thing that everyone can be sure of – there will be a swift judgment of preparedness on December 31,1999, 23:59:59:99.”There is a fine line between the pure logic of the computer and the middle ground between human views of feelings of impending doom and total denial of any problems at all. One way to look at it in an unprejudiced way is that the issue of the year 2000 is just that-an issue, not a bug. The world will have to anticipate and witness to see if the year 2000 bug really will have any effect at all on computer programs, cause turmoil or just be an exceptional warning tactic.
. 1. .THE YEAR 2000 COMPUTER BUG Beginning foremost with an introduction to illustrate precisely what is Y2K? Y2K is an abbreviated name for Year 2000. K is short for “kilo”, meaning “thousand”. Year 2000 computer bug refers to the possible, and the probable, glitch that computers will have on midnight, January 1, 2000. First, we need to explain the definitions of what the “millennium” and “bug” are. The millennium means a 1000-year. The bug is an unforeseen blip in software and other development. The year 2000 is not the start of the next millennium. Even if it was, this date-field issue has nothing to do with thousand year cycles. If the computers existed in 1898, we would have called it the year 1900 computer bug problem. Inappropriate managing of year values in calendar dates field’s caused the year 2000 problem in software and firmware. Primarily, it has been the use of only two digits to represent year values. When two digits are used, 00 represents the year 2000, often taken to mean 1900 instead. This causes incorrect results when the difference between dates is calculated and when dates are compared or sorted. Computers have been programmed to store dates in the following format: dd/mm/yy. This only allows two digits for the year. January 1,2000 would be stored as 01/01/00. Nevertheless, the computer will translate this as January 1, 1900 not 2000. Since there are only two physical spaces for the year in this date format, after “99″, the only logical choice is to reset the number to “00″. When we flip from 31/12/99 to 01/01/00, many computers will not know what year 00 is and will assume either it is 1900 or nil-input.The cause and effect of the “alleged” millennium bug can be expressed in this fictitious tale: “Robin Taylor reported to work on the first day of the New Year and the new century. Driving in had been difficult, but thankfully, she hadn’t had to drive far. Some traffic lights were working, but those at the big intersections on the busiest roads were not. What a mess! However, she was finally at the office, and only a little late. “What’s this? The building’s freezing. Maintenance must have been partying too much to bother to turn the heat back on after the holiday,” she thought. Robin pushed the button that would call the elevator for her and found that the thing was even slower than usual. In fact, she saw no indication at all that it was even working. Late already because of the wild drive in, she decided to waste no more time waiting for the elevator and took the stairs to her fifth floor office, where more than simple inconvenience awaited her. A few of the office’s PCs were functional, most were not. She found that she could get to the Internet, but being there was much like being all dressed up and no place to go-she could get there, but was able to do nothing once she arrived.” One of the most visible effects of the year 2000 bug will be in one principal industry; banking. In banking, it has been speculated that year 2000 problems will extend no further than internal departments and that customers will never see any effects at all, but it has also been speculated that banks’ results could span several types ofcustomer-impacting problems. It could be that bank statements will be distorted with a blend of accurate and inaccurate information. ATM cards will no longer be functional. Banks will lose accounts altogether, with the result that the depositor loses everything that he or she cannot prove he or she had at the close of business on December 31, 1999. Depositors stand to lose assets if their bank has no documents of their accounts after the turn of the century. “Of year 2000 experts surveyed, 38 percent report that they intend to sell stocks and withdrawal cash savings prior to December 31, 1999 so that their funds will be safe, until it is known whether their financial institutions have indeed fully repaired their date discrepancies. While that number is disconcerting, it also reflects the intentions of 62 percent to make no changes at all in their financial arrangements.” “Myths, rumors and truth are soaring like birds of passage around uncovered edibles regarding the year 2000. Here is just a few of the most popular ones. Keep in mind some of these are true:A. Banks will shut down.B. Nuclear weapons will be accidentally launched.C. Police are issuing tickets to drivers whose licenses “expired” in 00.D. Automobiles with advanced Engine Management Systems may not start.E. There may be planned blackouts/brownouts the first month or so of 2000 to fix things.F. Land mines will explode.G. The US Department of Defense will shut down.H. The building security system won’t let anyone in.I. Some fire engines may not start.J. The Dow Jones average will dip to 4000.K. Business contracts may be 99 years delinquent.L. A Toys-R-Us outlet had its entire checkout system knocked out when someone used a credit card with a 00-expiration date.M. Digital watches will go blank.N. PC clocks will race ahead.O. Callers could be billed for 100-year telephone calls.P. People may receive zillion dollar invoices from their utility resulting in service being shut off.” The year 2000 computer bug will cause additional problems in an unassuming way. Universally people will fault many things, beginning with paying child support, tickets, credit card bills, mortgages payments, overdrawn accounts causing NSF checks, etc. on the year 2000. Hopefully; many if not all companies will have the year 2000 computer bug stabilized prior to the January 1,2000.When the year 2000 computer bug was first spoken of, some people said it was no big deal, there is a straightforward approach to solving the year 2000 bug by simply changing the 2-digit date fields to 4-digits ones. As the year 2000 proceeds closer and closer, companies are losing precious time in order to stop the millennium bug. The deadline is fixed. The price of survival is high and the only reward is the hope of continuing to operate in the world of commerce and industry. Businesses that continue into the next millennium will enjoy the happiness of existence. Companies that fail to act now will probably crumble under their own weight. The other alternative to addressing the year 2000 is to go out of business! Although the relative ease with which the date problem could be postponed and thoroughly repaired, it still remains likely that there will be short-term problems for the individual associated with the turn of the century. Unspecified appliances may not work or not work properly. Computer-controlled building maintenance systems may require manual overrides in order to be heated or to have functional elevators. Stock exchanges may be closed for a day while the system checks are run to ensure integrity of data. Grocery stores may temporarily reestablish to individual pricing and may need to resort to calculators, rather than cash registers, at the checkout.While it may or may not happen that airline flights are delayed or rerouted. The idea of planes falling from the skies at the stroke of midnight occurring in reach of January 1, 2000 need to remain in the realm of the supermarket tabloids. At the same time questions, such as: Will car doors unlock and the engine turn over? Will the pumps provide gas? Will the ATM’s provide cash? Will the banks be open? Will the roads be open? Will you have investments? Will you have accounts? Will you have a job?It is less than two years until the year 2000. Two seemingly small digits may turn January 1,2000 from a worldwide celebration into a universal nightmare. With computers mistaking the year 2000 for 1900, virtually all businesses that use dates will be affected. Not only will the companies be affected, but also they are paying millions upon millions of dollars in order for computers to recognize the difference between the years 2000 and 1900. The year 2000 computer bug is a huge problem that our world must face. “One thing that everyone can be sure of – there will be a swift judgment of preparedness on December 31,1999, 23:59:59:99.”There is a fine line between the pure logic of the computer and the middle ground between human views of feelings of impending doom and total denial of any problems at all. One way to look at it in an unprejudiced way is that the issue of the year 2000 is just that-an issue, not a bug. The world will have to anticipate and witness to see if the year 2000 bug really will have any effect at all on computer programs, cause turmoil or just be an exceptional warning tactic. . 1. .