Since someone likes to post using other people's names and handles I will now use a different handle everytime I post.

Now, here is the link to the article

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

Y2K: Everyone Knows About It, But Few Are Worried

NEW YORK, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- While 92 percent of American adults are aware of the potential for Y2K disruptions, only about one in five (22 percent) are ``very concerned'' about it, according to research conducted by CDB Research & Consulting Inc. The study also found that more than half of the respondents (52 percent) were ``unconcerned'' about the issue.

In addition, the educated and affluent seem to be even less concerned about potential disruptions to daily life by Y2K than others. One out of four high school grads (26 percent) are concerned, but only one in five who have at least some college education (20 percent) feel as worried. The difference is even greater among income groups. Although one in four people with less than $45,000 in annual income are very concerned (26 percent), only half as many people with annual household incomes of at least $75,000 are concerned (13 percent).

``The more affluent segments of our society may be knowledgeable enough about computers and the influence of the millennium to feel confident that the dire predictions we've been hearing are exaggerated,'' said Ann Middleman, vice president of CDB Research & Consulting Inc. ``On the other hand, they may be too complacent. Only time will tell.''

In spite of this carefree attitude, most people recognize that there are likely to be some disruptions at the turn of the century. More than four out of five people (85 percent) identified some area of life that might experience problems. However, there was no single area that worried a majority, even among those who are most concerned about Y2K in general.

About one in three people are worried that financial services will be adversely affected (32 percent). Younger people are more likely to be concerned about disruptions in this area than older people (38 percent of ``Gen-Xers'' vs. 25 percent of the Mature Market).

Nearly one out of five people worry that healthcare services will be disrupted at the millennium (18 percent). Not surprisingly, young people are the least likely to be concerned (10 percent) about disruption of these services. On the other hand, both Baby Boomers and older adults are equally concerned about healthcare services (23 percent and 22 percent, respectively).

Telecommunications disruptions worry 20 percent of the people, but the most basic needs -- food and public safety -- concern fewer than one in 10 people. ``As news has gotten out, so has information about the measures being taken by the government and the private sector to avoid major problems in the distribution of food, water, energy, and other modern necessities,'' explained Middleman.

CDB Research & Consulting Inc. is a research and communications strategy consulting firm specializing in health, technology, financial services, and consumer goods, with a focus on marketing, product development, corporate communications, and corporate brand identity. CDB Research & Consulting Inc. is located at 350 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. Phone: 212-367-6858. Fax: 212-367-6985. CDB Research & Consulting Inc. is on the World Wide Web at http://www.cdbresearch.com, with the general e-mail address of amiddleman@cdbresearch.com .

-- The Little General (Hehe@ha.ha), July 07, 1999

Answers

Perhaps the reason why the affluent dismiss y2k problems is that they think they can buy their way out of any trouble. They'll just throw money at it. We may all be in a position, however, where money will do no good.

-- lurkee (holdingon@home.now), July 07, 1999.

...so sayeth the Doomer buffoon hoping for a chance to get "back at those rich people"...

April 1, 1999. On this date, Canada, Japan, and the State of New York begin their fiscal year. This will, of course, include dates beyond Y2K. As a result, planning systems, especially budgets that have not been repaired will fail as they attempt to process Y2K dates. Since New York City is the media capitol of the world, problems there will grab headlines worldwide. Problems in Japan will remind everyone again of how interconnected our world is. The Japanese will also be forced to admit that there systems might not make it. I expect the stock market to react and begin (or continue) its downward spiral. Public confidence will continue to wane and the number of Y2K optimists will continue to dwindle.

July 1, 1999. On this date, forty-four U.S. states begin their fiscal years. The problems that began in New York will now spread exponentially across the country and around the world. The public will feel the global and pervasive nature of the Y2K Problem for the first time. This will be further exacerbated by the fact that many states have not had the resources to adequately address their Millennium Bug problems. Consequently, the failures will be real and widespread.

From the 12 Oct 1998 issue of Westergaard - Michael Hyatt

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), July 07, 1999.

The few that are NOT worried clearly do not include the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Excerpts from IEEE's June 9, 1999 Open Letter to Congress in support of legislation imposing severe limits on liability for Y2K failures.

http://www.ieeeusa.org/FORUM/POLICY/99june09.html

PREVENTION OF ALL Y2K FAILURES WAS NEVER POSSIBLE: For many large and important organizations, technical prevention of all Y2K failures has never been possible in any practical way

Y2K COMPLIANT" DOES NOT EQUAL "NO Y2K FAILURES." If an organization makes all of its systems "Y2K compliant", it does not mean that that same organization will not experience Y2K failures causing harm to itself and other organizations. In fact, efforts to become "Y2K compliant" in one place could be the direct cause of such failures in others. If interconnected systems are made compliant in different ways, they will be incompatible with each other. Many systems in government and industry are mistakenly being treated as if they were independent and fixed in the most expedient way for each of them. When this "Humpty Dumpty" is put back together again, it will not work as expected without complete testing, which is unlikely

ALL PROBLEMS ARE NOT VISIBLE OR CONTROLLABLE. many Y2K failures are inevitable because some technical problems will not be discernible prior to a failure, and others, while discernible, may not be within an organizations jurisdictional control to correct. This is especially true in large complex organizations with large amounts of richly interconnected software involved in long and complex information chains and in systems containing a high degree of embedded devices or systems purchased in whole from external parties

INCOMING DATA MAY BE BAD OR MISSING. To maintain their operations many organizations require data imported from other organizations over which they have no control. Such data may have unknowingly been corrupted, made incompatible by misguided compliance efforts or simply missing due to the upstream organizations lawful business decisions.

COMPLEXITY KILLS. The internal complexity of large systems, the further complexity due to the rich interconnections between systems, the diversity of the technical environments in type and vintage of most large organizations and the need to make even small changes in most systems will overwhelm the testing infrastructure that was never designed to test "everything at once." Hence, much software will have to be put back into use without complete testing, a recipe, almost a commandment, for widespread failures

MANY THINGS ARE OUTSIDE THE CONTROL OF ANY DEFENDANT. Incoming data from external sources outside its control may be corrupted, incompatible or missing. Devices and systems embedded in critical purchased equipment may be beyond the defendants knowledge or legal access. Non-technical goods and services the defendant depends upon may not be available due to Y2K problems within their source organizations or distribution channel.

THERE WILL BE A STRONG DEFENSE OF IMPRACTICABILITY. Existing large-scale systems were not made safe from Y2K long ago for good reasons. Many systems resist large-scale modernization (e.g., IRS, FAA Air Traffic Control, Medicare) for the same reasons. Wide-spread, coordinated modifications across entrenched, diverse, interconnected systems is technically difficult if not impossible at the current level of transformational technology

COMPLEXITY AND TIME NEGATES ANY LEGAL LIABILITY INCENTIVE. Even if making all of an organization's systems "Y2K compliant" would render an organization immune from Y2K failures (it will not), the size and complexity of the undertaking is such that if any but the smallest organization is not already well into the work, there is not enough time for the incentive of legal liability to have any discernible positive effect on the outcome

Y2K IS A LONG TERM, NOT SHORT TERM, PROBLEM. Irrespective of the notion of Y2K being about time, a point in time, or the fixation on the rollover event at midnight December 31, 1999, or even the name Year 2000 itself, Y2K computer problems will be causing computer system malfunctions and failures for years into the next decade.  it will take years for the infrastructure to "calm down" after Y2K impacts themselves AND the impacts of the sometimes frantic and misguided changes we have made to it

-- Brooksbie (brooksbie@hotmail.com), July 07, 1999.

I don't understand the purpose of the article. It states what the concerns are of the general populous. So what? What response do you think you would have gotten if you had conducted a similar poll in the weeks before the Great Depression? How many people could forsee the events that unfolded? How many people can really imagine their lifestyles changing so drastically? I'm not saying things are going to be a "10" or a "2". I'm saying we don't know and articles like this just send mixed signals. Can you afford to be unprepared?

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), July 07, 1999.

working commodes and full stomaches are the only thing maintaining the veneer of civility here in america....y2k will bring out the masses ugly side soon enough.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.