The
Year 2000 problem (also known as the
Y2K problem, the
millennium bug, the
Y2K bug, or simply
Y2K) was a notable
computer bug resulting from the practice in early
computer program design of representing the year with two digits. This caused some date-related processing to operate incorrectly for dates and times on and after
January 1,
2000 and on other critical dates which were billed "
event horizons". This fear was fueled by the attendant press coverage and other media speculation, as well as corporate and government reports. People recognized that long-working systems could break down when the "...97, 98, 99..." ascending numbering assumption suddenly became invalid. Companies and organizations world-wide checked and upgraded their computer systems.
While no significant computer failures occurred with global significance when the clocks rolled over into 2000, preparation for the Y2K bug had a significant effect on the computer industry. The fact that countries where very little was spent on tackling the Y2K bug (such as Italy and South Korea) fared just as well as those who spent much more (such as the United Kingdom and the United States) has generated debate on whether the absence of computer failures was the result of the preparation undertaken or whether the significance of the problem had been overstated.[1]
The Year 2000 problem was the subject of the early book, "Computers in Crisis" by Jerome and Marilyn Murray (Petrocelli, 1984; reissued by McGraw-Hill under the title "The Year 2000 Computing Crisis" in 1996). The first recorded mention of the Year 2000 Problem on a Usenet newsgroup occurred Saturday, January 19, 1985 by Usenet poster Spencer Bolles.[2]
The acronym Y2K has been attributed to David Eddy, a Massachusetts programmer,[3] in an e-mail sent on June 12, 1995. He later said, "People were calling it CDC (Century Date Change) and FADL (Faulty Date Logic). There were other contenders. It just came off my COBOL calloused fingertips."[citation needed]
