Y2K1 essays

Y2K1 essays Civilizations dependence upon computers has grown exponentially in the last thirty years. Businesses use computers to keep their records, write reports, and to converse with colleagues and clients. The average businessperson depends primarily on their computer to complete a days work. Years ago, programmers caused what could have potentially been a major problem with modern computer systems. While attempting to conserve scarce and expensive data bits, they programmed the year using two digits instead of four. At the turn of the century, computer systems would not be able to discriminate between the year 1900 and the year 2000. As the speculation of what would happen at the turn of the millennium grew, those who depended on computers became frightened at the thought of what their world might become. In order to prevent any major problems from occurring, measures were to taken to repair this bug. Now that the beginning of the new century has passed, it is safe to say that the p recautions taken by businesses and the government were not done so in vain. Now the century has turned, our computers are safe and precautions no longer need be taken. On and after January 1, there were several Y2K related problems with computers around the world, but these problems were minor and solvable. For instance, an eyeglass lens manufacturers plant had troubles with bringing up purchase orders when customers had questions, because the purchase orders were sorted by date. In addition, the same manufacturers plant had computers controlling the manufacturing process. Since problems affected the computers in their sales and administration office, they felt it necessary to have employees hand-check the quality and accuracy of each lens before it left the building (Zandonella, par. 4). These problems led to slight setbacks in business, but they were able to recover in time to maintain their reputation. ...