Y2K bug is mostly just a memory these days

by David Kelleher

While millions of people were preparing to celebrate the year 2000 last year, hundreds of computer experts were waiting with bated breath for the clock to strike midnight on 31 December 1999. Fears of a pending apocalypse and a massive breakdown in communications left many party-goers wondering whether the world was about to come to an end.
In all countries around the world, task forces were set up to combat what became known as the Millennium Bug or Y2K. A computer
programming error in the 1970s threatened to bring chaos to any country or company that depended on technology. And even our small Malta was not going to be spared.
But that was a year ago and very little happened. A few computers did go bust, a few dates took the world back a few centuries, but the impending disaster that everyone was expecting never materialised.
The first few days of the year 2000 served more of a monitoring exercise rather than a full scale programme to beat the bug. All the ground work was carried out in 1999 and, much to the disdain of those who worked round-the-clock to ensure that all systems functioned properly, their work was not appreciated. When the time came to see whether the bug would strike after all, nothing really happened. What is all hype or did the experts really manage to keep the Millennium Bug at bay? Did consultants and computer manufacturers strike gold by playing on the world’s fear of a disaster?
The answer, one must admit is no. Some individuals may have exaggerated on some points but on the whole if no action was taken, the situation would have been totally different.
So much so, that those companies which failed to tackle the issue head on, soon found out, to their dismay, that the Bug existed after all.
But what happened to all those task forces around the world, including Challenge 2000 here in Malta?
“Challenge 2000 continued working until May before it was dis-
banded,” George Papagiorcopulo, chairman of the task force, told The Malta Business Weekly.
“We continued monitoring the situation and a few specific cases had to be dealt with. After May there was nothing else for us to do, so the task force was disbanded. I must point out that the majority of companies and entities in Malta took action and had a smooth transition, however there were five entities that failed to do something and suffered, in varying degrees, the consequences,” Mr Papagiorcopulo said.
He added that if nothing had been done on a national scale, the problem would have been much more serious.
Task forces around the world also had a relatively easy year. Instead of the frantic round-the-clock programming crunch of a year ago, most of the people involved are actually enjoying the holidays.
“We’ve been on vacation most of this year,” said Harris Miller, President of the Information Technology Association of America.
In Washington, DC, former Y2K czar John Koskinen is now the deputy mayor and chief administrator of the city; his former Y2K crisis centre is the transition headquarters for George W. Bush’s administration. And while the Y2K bug wound up being a fizzle, it did teach the tech community a lesson or two, Miller said.
“The Y2K problem showed that information technology was critical to an organisation. From the
management chain to the boardroom, IT got more attention,” Miller said.
And the fact that there were only minor problems means he and his fellow Y2K fixers did their job, he said, dismissing critics who say the entire episode was all hype.
“It’s like telling a surgical team that because the patient made it in good health, it wasn’t a big deal or success,” Miller said.
The Y2K problem arose out of a nifty way to save space in computer code back in the early days of computer programming. The Y2K glitch, also known as the millennium bug, stems from an old programming shortcut that used only two digits to signify years, such as “76” for 1976. If computer systems do not get modified, the year 2000 could be interpreted as the year 1900 and crash the system or cause glitches.
Years before the century date change, businesses and governments spent untold sums to warn of widespread chaos from the Y2K bug. In turn, the dire predictions drove companies, agencies, schools, corner stores, and ordinary citizens to collectively spend billions of dollars – some say trillions – in preparation for the impending Year 2000 disaster.
But just weeks before the big day, much of the earlier hype subsided. Although some problems did happen, many experts changed course and said that serious damage from the most celebrated bug in high-tech history would be minimal.
Those later forecasts have held up, giving further support to those who long considered the Y2K anomaly a bunch of hooey.
“I thought it was definitely a lot of hype,” said Glenn Mills, the
creative director and information technology coordinator at Total Immersion, a small business in New Paltz, New York. The com-pany teaches swimming stroke technique to triathletes, masters and fitness swimmers.
In retrospect, Mills considers the whole Y2K issue a study in human nature: “It was a massive thing to be alive at the turn of the century. Doomsayers came out and said the end of the century will affect everyone,” including computers and technology, Mills said.
There were a few problems.
Several states said they encountered glitches in licensing processes, motor vehicle division problems either in issuing renewal licenses or conducting drivers license testing. Others reported cosmetic date-related problems, such as printing out the wrong dates for functions. At the Birmingham Airport, a telephone system showed the date as 32 December.
Throughout the early part of 2000, software and computer companies announced minor glitches in software applications as well as the Y2K’s impact on software and hardware sales.
Unexpectedly, the problem also surfaced in 2001 when the Millennium Bug hit new trains in Norway – they simply failed to start.