The Millenium Bug
| It's easy to forget that just a few short years ago, many people happily predicted the end of the world would take place at the turn of the century. It all started decades ago, when computer programmers chose not to include the "19" digits in every date. In those days, memory was rare and expensive (and expected to stay that way), so it was a perfectly reasonable decision. As the millenium approached, the number and variety of computer programmes had increased exponentially, and many everyday activities were controlled by computer programs; everything from life support machines to national electricity grids had digital controls, which included timing and calendar controls. It started to occur to people that they did not know what would happen as 1999 flipped over to 2000; would computers know what Year 00 was, or would they assume it's 1900 or worse - would they just get confused and shut down? |
Y2K~ Y2K Cartoons 
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| As no-one had a quick answer, uncertainty fed on fear and built up to a modicum of hysteria. A whole new industry was spawned, and people like me were ordered to check electric kettles, toasters and clocks (!), for their "Y2K compliance" (whatever that was!). No exaggeration - I was threatened with disciplinary action for refusing to put a sticker on a refrigerator. Note: any item with no internal calender was immune - it never knew which year it was. |  |
| To give them credit, some people argued all along that it was a load of tosh, while others insisted we have been saved from being eaten by a giant pink dragon, and should be grateful This site celebrates and remembers those happy days; use the links on the right to see some of the great cartoons, a selection of the jokes and quotations, there's even some products related to the great panic. Millenium stuff is beginning to disappear - if we do not grab it, many of the best items will be lost forever (try a Google search and see the dead links ... ). Contributions Very Gratefully Received! And finally, don't foget to find out the truth ... |
Y2K~ Y2K Cartoons
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| All attributed cartoons and images used with permission; copyright resides with the originators. | Information about unattributed work gratefully received. |
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© 1997 - 2005 Andrew Heenan |