Year 2000 Trouble: HAL9000
Redux?
Your computer is just
one of many devices that could fail on New Year's Eve, 1999.
Computer wonks are in a (profitable) tizzy over the possibility
that millions of computers, big and small, will crash at midnight
on December 31, 1999. Should you worry? Maybe. And, by the way,
your computer is just one of many electronic devices that could
become confused and shut down.
Recently, the Chicago Tribune and RCG Information Technology
offered these potential/hypothetical Year 2000 (Y2K) problems:
- Your January 2000 phone bill is $2.6 million because the phone
company's computer thinks a three-minute call that began at
11:58 p.m. on December 31, 1999 lasted 100 years and one minute.
- Your high-tech alarm clock fails to wake you up on January
1, 2000 because it thinks it's January 1, 1900.
- Your new car won't start because its built-in computer thinks
you haven't serviced the car in 100 years.
- Your credit card is declined because the company's computer
thinks it's 1900 and you haven't been born yet.
- Your VCR can't be set to record a future program because it
doesn't understand 00 for a date.
The solution? If you own a PC (other than a brand-new one), call
the manufacturer's customer service hotline and ask if Y2K will
kill your computer. Or, if the hotline is busy (as usual), point
your browser to www.nstl.com
and download free software that will let you test your PC's Y2K
compatibility. Be aware that operating systems and other software
may have their own Y2K problems - check with their manufacturers
too.
Mac users have nothing to worry about - Apple says its computers
were always Y2K-ready.
As for alarm clocks, VCRs and cars, industry experts predict
that only about 2% of their chips will fail with the turn of the
century. They suggest consumers go through their homes and make
a list of every electronic device, including make, model and serial
number, and then call the manufacturers to check on Y2K compatibility.
Better get to it!
Source: T.R.Green @ BGC
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