Twenty-five years after the turn of the millennium, the world looks back on the Y2K scare, remembering the widespread fear that computers would fail catastrophically. The article recounts the atmosphere leading up to the new millennium, highlighting the massive global effort and billions of pounds spent to prevent a technological meltdown. It also shares a personal account from Paddy Tipping, who spent the night in the Cabinet Office monitoring the situation.
Planes were going to drop out of the sky, nuclear reactors would explode. But then … nothing. What really happened with Y2K ? People still disagree …
Though the Y2K threat was voiced publicly as early as 1958, it became a common concern only after the publication of a 1993 article in Computerworld magazine by Canadian engineer Peter de Jager, apocalyptically headlined “Doomsday 2000”. The problem was simple. Most computers at the time stored dates as six-digit numbers, so 30 August 1991 would be 30/08/91.
It was a perfect story for the popular press: a race against time to fix the computers or something terrible is going to happen “This was a beautiful, perfect story for the popular press,” says Zachary Loeb, a historian at Purdue University, Indiana, who is writing a book about Y2K. “There’s a race against time to fix the computers or something terrible is going to happen, with an immovable deadline set in stone … if you wrote this in a movie script, it would be too on-the-nose.”Y2K seized the cultural zeitgeist. You could buy A Christian’s Guide to the Millennium Bug or Y2K for Women.
The Y2K threat made people suddenly aware of how deeply dependent modern society was on technology. Simultaneously, they realised computers were not the sleek, perfect devices they might have assumed – in fact they were fragile patchworks of design compromises and lazy code, liable to fail at any moment. It was as if you thought you’d been standing on a sturdy suspension bridge, then looked down to realise it was a rickety platform of rotting planks held together by glue, duct tape and hope.
Y2K Millennium Bug Technology History Global Crisis
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Next Great Indy AdventureIndiana Jones and the Great Circle feels less like a video game and more like stepping into a classic Indiana Jones film — adventurous, nostalgic, and unforgettable.
Read more »
Dutton’s had a great year, but 2025 will test his one great weaknessPeter Dutton has been a worthy opposition leader, exceeding most expectations. 2025 will test whether he has the hunger to win.
Read more »
New-season fashion trends – with a little inspo from the red carpet (and royalty)White shoes, handbags for men, Y2K rewinds: new takes on summer cool from the celebrity realm.
Read more »
New-season fashion trends – with a little inspo from the red carpet (and royalty)White shoes, handbags for men, Y2K rewinds: new takes on summer cool from the celebrity realm.
Read more »
Hear me out: maybe we should have just let Y2K happen?We had the chance to give computers less control, and instead we gave them more.
Read more »
Hear me out: maybe we should have just let Y2K happen?We had the chance to give computers less control, and instead we gave them more.
Read more »