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Y10K
Alert!
On December 31 in the year
9999, computers will experience massive failure and shutdown as their
4-digit year calendars are unable to accommodate the new Year 10,000.
The resulting crisis could paralyze all technology and lead to global
chaos. Personal hovercraft will plunge to the ground, bionic implants
will fail, the global network of weather-control satellites will bombard
the earth, and your SOMA dispenser will cease functioning. The resulting
loss of life could rival any catastrophe the world has ever seen.
Why is nothing
being done to stop Y10K?
Many people believe that
there is ample time to fix the dreaded Y10K problem. This is the same
kind of shortsighted planning that led us to experience the "Y2K
bug."
Likewise, some assert that
present-day computers will be obsolete by the Year 10,000. Again, this
was the opinion of early computer designers in the twentieth century,
who erroneously believed that their systems and software would be replaced
by Y2K compliant systems long before the year 2000 came along.
Finally, you may feel justified
ignoring the Y10K problem because you do not expect to live an additional
8,000 years to confront it personally. Or you may believe it's unlikely
that human beings will still be around then. However, advances in modern
medicine may bring such extended lifespans well within our reach in
mere decades. Many of the programmers responsible for the Y2K problem
grew up during the cold war, and held similarly pessimistic views of
the survival of the human race until the turn of the century. It seems
increasingly likely that they were wrong in their estimate of our longevity.
Regardless of whether we will personally see the Year 10,000, don't
we owe it to our descendants to confront this problem while there is
still a chance of fixing it?
How do we stop this threat?
The only way to avoid the
Y10K problem is through foresight and purposeful action. I call on all
makers of hardware and software to design their system clocks to accommodate
5-digit years, starting immediately. Also, banks and lending
institutions must begin printing checks with longer lines for people
to fill in the date, to prepare for the additional space demanded by
the Year 10,000. Televisions and VCRs must prepare for the need to program
5-digit date codes, or these important pieces of consumer technology
will be rendered useless, fomenting restlessness and creativity among
the populace.
We can fix Y10K, but we
must act now.
Don't wait until you read
about it in the papers or have the news electronically downloaded to
the communications chip in your brain. The time to fix this critical
problem is now. Please take a moment to copy the text of the following
letter and send it to your governmental representatives as well as the
heads of technology centers around the world.
Dear __________, (name
of person you are writing)
I am writing you to express
my concerns about the looming "Y10K bug" and urge you to take
immediate action to safeguard our future. As you may know, the Y10K
problem will occur On December 31 in the year 9999, when computers'
4-digit year calendars are unable to accommodate the new Year 10,000.
It is predicted that the resulting shutdowns will lead to a technological
catastrophe which could threaten life as we know it.
We need not make the same
mistakes of the last generation of computer developers, whose lack of
foresight generated the "Y2K" problem that has dampened the
world's enthusiasm for the coming Millennium. Let us approach the Year
10,000 prepared and confident in our technology.
The solution to this threat
is simple: all technology -- hardware and software -- manufactured from
this point on must accommodate a 5-digit date field. This small change
now will save the human race untold grief in the future.
Sincerely,
____________
(you)
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