Too simple an analogy?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I've tried piecing together the millions of bits of information. I've tried looking at things philosophically.

Doesn't this disturb you though. If we were told, by the end of the week, to change our Left Front tire to the Right Rear, and the Right Rear tire to the Right Front, and the Left Rear tire to the Left Front, and the Right Front tire to the Left Rear - Do you think EVERYONE could do that?

Even EVERY MECHANIC? Nobody would goof it up?

It seems that either the computer problem, was no problem - or, it really does have yet to strike.

I can't believe everyone everywhere got it so correct. Results like that have NEVER been achieved in any other endeavor.

Therefore, if we don't start seeing some major problems soon, what and where did that Trillion dollars go?

I personally know the head of Y2K remediation for Arapaho County, CO, that as of October, said they were screwed with their People Soft installation. She knew other counties were never in the game to get finished.

-- Gregg (g.abbott@starting-point.com), January 04, 2000

Answers

Probably couldn't drive the car anyway...either one of those 2000 terrorist doves released in the midlle east at rollover would crash thru the windshield and impale you on it's beak...or a wet, kamikazzee squirrel flying using a Mylar balloon would chew into your battery cable and shut down your electrical system.

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), January 04, 2000.

I have a personal assesment of the situation. The public was hyped to believe there was a real problem, we then had people like North and Yourdon telling us about the real danger, convincing us, including me, which I donot regret. This was to get the public sensitive to the issue, and agreeing a fix was needed, the same as the gun control thing is staged. When the public is awakened to the need, then the millions and billions are subtracted from treasuries all over the world. Now comes the subtle part. This billions are then funneled into secret accounts all over the world, then a world wide blitz of Y2K bug fixation. A bug that was never there to start with. If there was a bug then how come all the third world nations are on the same level as ours? I think the world has again been had, both the doomers and pollies, to agree to the withdrawal of our tax money, in this case, billions and billions. This wealth is safely stored in secret accounts. And the bug is squleched, proof of fixation. The bug was not actually there, or if it was it was a very minor thing. What is your take on this? When money is involved, and especailly amounts such as these, the biggies play for keeps. This is the only way I am able to rationalize this thing. The whole world, Russia and the third world nations all are at the same level of fixation as we are, and the Billions were spent here, not there. Where are those billions, are they in the pockets of the programmers?

-- Notforlong (Fsur439@aol.com), January 04, 2000.

y2k will be like pouring sand in the oil inlet of a car, it will run but eventually it will come to a grinding halt.

-- (kreiger9@hotmail.com), January 04, 2000.

Gregg,

What you're missing is that there's plenty of other reasons why cars, or computers, fail to work. So there always some broken at any time, and there's always folks running around fixing them. It wasn't necessary to get all the wheel changes right in advance, just to get most of them right, and to warn everyone else to be particularly on the watch for cars with wobbly wheels.

Also you're missing that the fixed systems were tested, and re-fixed until the tests were passed. (Well, most of them). This is why the success rate is high. The auto-mechanic equivalent is road-testing the customer's car before he gets it back. (I once accepted my car back before they'd had time to do this. Luckily they did warn me -- because five miles later the brakes failed!)

So far we know that nothing particularly bad has happened with the embedded systems in power generation and telecomms. That was always the scariest possibility.

It also appears that nothing very much has happened elsewhere, so I don't thing it'll be enough sand to sieze the engine. This will become a lot clearer over the next fortnight (ie long enough to take all banks and suchlike through a real clearing cycle and most other organisations through some order and invoice and payroll cycles. If we aren't in deep and obvious trouble by 14th, then Y2K won't amount to more than a few local difficulties).

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), January 04, 2000.


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