John B. Moss
© 08/15/1999 - 2008

You know, 'Y2K' was the euphemism for turning the calendar corner, for getting through the time frame 1999 to 2xxx. This was a 'big deal' because, supposedly, computers would have difficulty with the math. It seems hard to believe now, but when computers were introduced during the 20th century, a shorthand way of calculating the date was to use the low-order (last two digits) for the year - as in 08/15/99. The difficulty, it was seen, was that when going from 1999 to 2000 (08/15/00) the fact that '00' was greater than '99' was (and is)mathematically inconsistent. Everyone 'knew' that 99 meant 1999 - but computers definitely did NOT! Thus, Y2K was a world-wide phenomenon, as countless billions (yes, Billions) of dollars and currencies from all countries was spent in upgrading computer programs and systems so as to be able to handle the world-wide problem - in time for midnight, 12/31/1999. The whole world watched on TV as the dateline arc'd over each line of longitude, and commentators displayed the scene world-wide as the new Millenium was entered - without computer incident.

Was it necessary to spend so much money on such a 'problem' in such a concentrated manner? Who knows? But in August approaching September in 1999, fear of the unknown scope of the dilemma was at mammoth proportions. Everyone was waiting for Y2K...