Y (2K) - Y2k: The Aftermath

bug computer millennium software

As the year 2000 became a reality, most all major computer systems were fully Y2K compliant. There were no widespread failures, and industries from airlines to power plants, functioned normally. Even in developing regions, the predicted effects of the millennium bug, for the most part, were successfully prevented. Newspapers and pundits pronounced the Y2K bug a complete bust. So much money and so many technological hours were spent anticipating the Y2K bug, and protecting against it, that the possible scope of its effects will remain unknown.

Resources

Periodicals

Teresi, Dick. "Zero." The Atlantic Monthly (July 1997): 88.

Woodward, Kenneth L. "Uh-oh, Maybe We Missed the Big Day." Newsweek (August 11, 1997): 51.

Other

United States General Services Administration, National Y2K Clearinghouse. [cited October 18, 2002] <http://www.y2k.gov>.

United States Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. Y2K Aftermath: Crisis Averted, Final Committee Report. February, 29, 2000.

Gillian S. Holmes

KEY TERMS

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Bug: —An error in software that causes a computer to operate incorrectly, produce wrong results, or shut down. Synonym: glitch.
Embedded system: —A computer chip or processor built into an appliance or mechanical device that is not a computer itself.
Millennium: —A time period of 1000 years.
Millennium bug or Y2K bug: —A software or computer programming error in which 00 as the year is read as a mistake or a symbol for the year 1900 instead of 2000, causing the computer to reject the information or stop operating.