The
Year 2000 problem (also known as the
Y2K problem, the
millennium bug, the
Y2K Bug, or simply
Y2K) was the result of a practice in early
computer program design that caused some date-related processing to operate incorrectly for dates and times on and after
January 1,
2000. It caused widespread concern that critical industries (such as
electricity or
finance) and
government functions would cease operating at the stroke of midnight between
December 31,
1999 and
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 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 (like Italy and Korea) fared just as well as those who spent a lot (like the UK and the US) 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]
