The Event Itself Very few com-
puter failures occurred when the
year 2000 arrived. Problems that oc-
curred were minor, and some of
these may not have been connected
to Y 2K programming, as technolog-
ical glitches occur often and ran-
domly.
Countries that spent very little on
preparation reportedly managed as
well as those that spent much more,
such as the United States. For this
reason, much debate since January,
2000, has centered on whether Y 2K
was not a problem because of signif-
icant preparation or whether it
would not have been a problem in
any case and had been blown far out
of proportion.
Impact Just as some hurricane prep-
arations“batten down the hatches”
of an area only to be followed by a
minor storm, the Y2K issue seemed to involve
overpreparation for a minor event. However, Y2K
might have the risk of making individuals compla-
cent when the next prediction of doom occurs.
Once January 1, 2000, came and people awoke to
find no problem, the entire issue quickly subsided.
Still, there are analysts who would suggest that the
preparation did in fact have an impact—especially
in the case of subsequent events.
Subsequent Events It has been suggested that
following the terrorist attacks on the United States
on September 11, 2001, New York City’s infrastruc-
ture—including subways, phone service, and finan-
cial transactions—were able to continue operation
because of the redundant networks established in
the event of Y 2K and contingency plans devised by
companies. Global banking systems were not as dis-
rupted by 9/11 as they might have been because
backup systems were activated, many of which had
been established to deal with a possible complete
failure of networks in the financial district on Janu-
ary 1, 2000.
Some say that the Y 2K preparations had an im-
pact on the August, 2003, blackout in the Northeast.
Previous activities in preparation for Y 2K had in-
cluded the installation of new electrical generation
equipment and systems, which allowed power to be
restored relatively rapidly in some areas.
Further Reading
De Jager, Peter, and Richard Bergeon.Managing 00:
Surviving the Year 2000 Computing Crisis. Hoboken,
N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Contains advice
to business owners about how to prepare for the
Y 2K bug. Describes the issue more as a manage-
ment challenge than a technical problem.
Murray, Jerome T., and Marilyn J. Murray.The Year
2000 Computing Crisis: A Millennium Date Conver-
sion Plan. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. This was
the first book to predict the Y 2K crisis, published
under another title in the mid-1980’s and reis-
sued in 1996.
President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion, Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency, Federal
Trade Commission.Y2K and You. Washington,
D.C.: Author, 1999. An excellent document de-
signed for the general public. Answers questions,
provides suggestions, and is easy to read.
Mar y C. WareSee also Airline industry; Business and the econ-
omy in the United States; Computers; Internet; Sci-
ence and technology.The Nineties in America Y2K problem 951
John Koskinen, chairman of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion, briefs
reporters on December 31, 1999, on how the rest of the world is transitioning into the
new year.(AP/Wide World Photos)