I have added a paper, "The January Italian Mystery", to my Website, which is www.crosslink.net/~erington The paper's subject is the apparent success of the Italians in avoiding terrible Y2K problems in spite of a low level of effort. Being a member of this forum has helped in formulating this paper - Chuck's sagacity, dynamite quotes from Peter de Jager, etc.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), January 11, 2000

Answers

Peter, I have red your paper,this is typical of Italy.Remember that Italy historically has been a place where people live day by day I mean to say that problems pop up and in acertain way are fixed. the Italian way is to work like artists in any profession. take for example fixing machinery.It is worked in a atristic way. Inventing all differnt types of fixing the problem. This may have nothing to do with your paper but it helps to understand the Italian approach to the Y2K problem.

-- Alex The Italian (alexcapr@yours.com), January 11, 2000.

Peter:

The lack of major problems, or even all that many significant problems of any sort, due to Y2K really is a challenge to explain. My own belief at this point is that it never really was that big a deal, and if Y2K had just been ignored, the results would be roughly the same.

However, nobody really could be sure what Y2K would bring. Thus, taking personal preparation measures made a lot of sense.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), January 11, 2000.

KOS: Well, Peter de Jager seems to have come around to that position also, and maybe that's the right position. But I'm right now having a hell of a time accepting it. Not that I'm at all unhappy about the turn of events.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), January 12, 2000.

Being Italian and a senior analyst to boot, I'd like to post on this subject. First of all Italy can not be measured in American terms. Italy works to live not as in North America were people live to work. Italy doesn't rely on systems but on people. When you want or need somthing you think of family or people that will assist you in fufilling the need. From an American point of view this may appear to be wrong but from an Italians point asking for help is an opportunity to give someone an honor to help. Allowing others to help brings people closer in a social fabric that America has yet to understand. Now back to Y2K. If Italy is having problems which I suspect it is. They would just call on friends or relatives to assist, and technology is pushed aside. Technolgy is not used to push people out, its used to bring people in, where as in America technology is used to push people out. That is the difference and that it is why Italy will always survive far beyond anyones imagination. It has been said that if the Italian goverment or its institutions would close the doors and go home, nothing would change things would go on as usual. An yes the Italians make all work into an Art.

We love life and the people around us make it fun. What else is there?

Justthinkin com

-- justthinkin com (justthink@y2k.com), January 12, 2000.