Y2K in Perspective

Written by TJ Larsen

October 29, 1998

The world that we live in provides many luxuries and advantages, as more people become computer literate.  Technological advances allow us to create elaborate graphs and diagrams.  Motion pictures become visually awesome with computer programmers’ increase of knowledge.  Industrial machines, company records, and even employees’ paychecks are dealt with by using computers.  We live in a world that has become more dependent on computers than any other time in history.  Our technology is held together by individual programs and network systems.  As the year 2,000 approaches, a possible crisis has become apparent. It is called the Y2K crisis or the millenium bug.  When the clock strikes midnight on January first, 2,000, most internal dates in computers are going to turn from 99 to 00.  The problem with this last two-digit change is that computers are going to assume that the date is 1900 instead of 2,000. You may not believe that such a small technicality could cause a large-scale problem, but it is large enough to scare businesses across the country into putting millions of dollars into finding a cure. What is the impact on a technologically advanced society without functional technology?  The hype could be over exaggerated.  But those who do not prepare themselves could be in for a shock. Our human spirit will need to be strong in order to get through the worst-case scenarios.

There are those who have an optimistic view of the millennium ahead and there are those who see our future as an economic downfall. One concern is that employers will not be able to pay their workers because of a loss of access to the account information.  When workers can not get paid there are a number of possible results.  Family income will be on the line.  Will people resort to rioting if the economy falls? Hopefully there will not be an excessive amount of withdrawals from banks around the world so that there is no money left to maintain our society.  Religious fanatics have a new reason to ensure the prophecy of the coming apocalypse. Individuals like these recommend that we all run for the hills.  The problem raises many questions in our technologically dependent society.  Joseph Nocera writes on the Y2K bug’s consequences.  He believes that the aftermath will be more annoying than devastating.  “It... presumes that the breakdown of computers ranks with the real social crises—like Asia’s economic collapse or AIDS—when it’s not even close” (Nocera 3).  There most likely will not be a large amount of deaths or community mayhem related to the Y2K bug, but there are some serious possible breakdowns.  The IRS might not be able to process or accept tax information.  Airline passengers’ safety may conflict with their traveling schedules when the traffic-control systems stall.  Food shortages and transport failures could cause a panic in our fast-paced society.  Commuters and patrons all over could be denied the resources they need.

            Hospitals have the responsibility to ensure a safety for patients moving into the new millennium.  Thousands of pieces of equipment are being tested for serious, life threatening results of the Y2K bug.  Some computers will turn to the date that the system was installed instead of 00 and will also effect all systems interacting with it.  Anita Elash brings to our attention that non-compliant electrocardiograph machines could fail to produce dated output strips correctly.  This is something that nurses and doctors can do by hand, but some patients require several of them and may be neglected because of other severe problems.  Alarms on monitors could fail to sound and medical problems might go undetected for some individuals.  One reason for computer failure in this area is that diagnostic trends could start being misinterpreted by the date functions.  “Even if they don’t have a date function, many pieces of medical equipment contain an embedded microchip that could be programmed to keep track of the date and time or verify maintenance dates” (Elash 2).  With a possibility of a large amount of new patients needing attention in hospitals, there is no telling how doctors and nurses will be effected by the computer failures. Both administrators and direct care personnel will feel pressure, and patient care will need to deal with the steady flow of malfunctions while handling their regular workload.

            Computer programmers are paid to work out the problems that are predicted to happen in the year 2,000.  If there is a cure for the millennium bug, there is sure to be a price for it. One large network of Boston hospitals called Caregroup has contained their Y2K cost next year to $58 million.  Engineers and Information System technicians work daily to assess items such as patient beds, monitors, and operating room equipment which are vulnerable to shutdown.  There can not be just an individual solution for an individual’s interests.  The way our technology is inter-connected, the effects of the future failures must be stopped from all locations of malfunction.  Planning and predicting are two methods used to try to help solve this universal problem.  Even though we have never had this situation burden us before, many institutions believe that there is a way to avoid a large-scale crisis.  John L. Petersen wrote an article on social transformation resulting from the Y2K bug.  He said that “corporate and community experience with scenario planning has taught an important principle: We don’t need to be able to predict the future in order to be well prepared for it” (Petersen 7).  If everybody does his or her part to prevent a chaotic scenario from becoming reality we should be able to overcome the millennium bug without too much loss.  If this can be done, we will have a head start on the next big technological set back that comes along. The courage of the human spirit has always become obvious after natural disasters occurred in the past.  Collaborative relationships need to be made and held together in order to overcome the Y2K crisis.  Truly we all have to rely on our human spirit to overcome whatever awaits us in the year 2,000 in case we can not download a solution. 

Works Cited

Elash, Anita. “Time’s Running Out as Physicians Await Y2K Fallout.”

CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal Vol. 159. Issue 6. 22 Sept. 1998: 1-5. (10-20-98)

Nocera, Joseph and Elyssa Lee. “Worried About the Year 2000 Problem?

Get Real.” Money Vol. 27. Issue 9. Sept. 1998: 1-4. (10-20-98)

Petersen, John L., and Margaret Wheatley. “The  Y2K problem: Social

Chaos or Social Transformation?” Futurist Vol. 32 Issue 7. Oct. 1998: 1-10. (10-20-98)