Averting Problems in the New Millennium Essay -- Technology

Averting Problems in the New Millennium As we approach the end of this century, many people have raised concerns regarding the serious issues surrounding the Y2K problems. Although no one knows precisely what will happen on January 1, 2000, the general opinion is that Y2K related problems will cause failures of basic services including utilities, water and phone service. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that the Y2K problems will have more of a positive effect on our society because it has caused us to analyze more carefully, the data and the technology we rely on in everyday situations. In addition, the new millennium will usher an era of tremendous opportunities for technological advancements in our society. In other words, the current preparations to avert a Y2K crisis, has given us an advantage which will minimize technological breakdowns in the future and create new technology which will ensure a relatively smooth transition into the new millennium. The main focus of our concerns regarding the Y2K crisis is the fact that we know precisely when it is scheduled to begin and "this appointment with destiny cannot be postponed or avoided" (Jeffrey 10). During the past eighteen months, we have been bombarded with extensive information in the media regarding the Y2K problem including predictions on how it will impact our society. This problem can be traced back to approximately forty years ago, when programmers in the fledging computer industry made a fateful decision to save memory and space by recording year dates with only two digits. Unfortunately, no one anticipated that these early computer programs and mainframes would still be using these systems in 1999. As a result, this technological glitch may cause compute... ...other utilities, hopefully for short periods and the worst case scenario, could be a few weeks. However, these incidents will not translate into doomsday proportions and will not mean the "end of the world" as we know it. There is less reason to panic over Y2K because unlike the many natural disasters that we experienced in the United States we were able to proactively address this crisis. I am certain that we will witness one of the best New Year's Eve celebration in this century as the Waterford crystal ball is expected to drop and glow " 2000" in brilliant lights and the city lights will stay on. Works Cited Gould, Stephen Jay. Questioniung the Millennium. New York: Harmony Books, 1999. Seymour, Jim PC Magazine. "The Year 2000 Countdown" New York: April 1999. Jeffrey, Grant R. The Millennium Meltdown. Toronto: Frontier Research Publication, Inc., 1998.