The Millennium Bug
Less than two years until the year 2000. Two seemingly small digits may
turn January 1, 2000 from a worldwide celebration into a universal
nightmare. With computers mistaking the year 2000 for 1900, virtually all
businesses that use dates will be affected. Not only will the companies be
affected, but they are paying millions upon millions of dollars in order
for computers to recognize the difference between the years 2000 and 1900.
The year 2000 computer bug is a huge problem that our world must face.
In order to explain how to solve the "millennium bug", it is a good idea to
be informed about exactly what the year 2000 problem is. The year 2000
industry expert, Peter de Jager, described ...
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any other problem in modern history for
several reasons. William Adams points out some of the most important ones.
"Time is running out- the Year 2000 is inevitable! The problem will occur
simultaneously worldwide, time zones withstanding. It affects all languages
and platforms, hardware & software. The demand for solutions will exceed
the supply. Survivors will survive big, losers will lose big. There is no
'silver bullet' that is going to fix things" (Adams 2). "It is too big and
too overwhelming even for [Bill Gates and] Microsoft" (Widder 3). Separate,
any one of these points makes Y2K, a common abbreviation for the year 2000
problem, an addition to the obstacle. Combined, they form what seems more
like a hideous monster than an insignificant bug.
The impact of Y2K on society is enormous, bringing the largest companies in
the world to their knees, pleading for a fix at nearly any cost. "The
modern world has come to depend on information as much as it has on
electricity and ...
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Gartner Group estimates that
costs per line of code to be between $1.50 and $2.00 (Conner 1). It is not
uncommon for a single company to have 100,000,000 lines of code (de Jager
6). Capers Jones, an expert who has studied software costs for over ten
years, estimates total worldwide costs to be $1,635,000,000,000 (One-
trillion, 635 billion dollars) (Jones 58). To put this number into
perspective, if five people were to spend $100 for every second of every
day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it would take them about 100 years to
finish the task!
The year 2000 problem is not only limited to what happens with computers
between December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. There are several ...
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The Millennium Bug. (2006, October 15). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Millennium-Bug/53937
"The Millennium Bug." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 15 Oct. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Millennium-Bug/53937>
"The Millennium Bug." Essayworld.com. October 15, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Millennium-Bug/53937.
"The Millennium Bug." Essayworld.com. October 15, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Millennium-Bug/53937.
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