General Discussion

Bernardo de La Paz

(51,432 posts)

38. Ahem. It wasn't the programmers who didn't think.

Tue Oct 22, 2024, 02:35 PM

Oct 22

It was the managers, and executives, and politicians.

In many cases, requiring extra digits on forms and other systems would require reprinting. Data entry systems would have to be changed. Back then (in 80s and 90s) there were many data entry systems that used punched cards or other old ways with limited space.

Changing that required money. The aforementioned people like to pinch pennies.

That it wasn't the programmers was shown that when the actual turnover moment arrived the programs, or almost all, continued and there wasn't mass chaos. It did include a lot of programmers behind the scenes fixing code and data entry systems in the run-up to the turn of century.

One thing the programmers even now would like to see is dates used and rendered in the sortable unambiguous YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss format. You can still say month-day, but please write it and record it and print it unambiguously.

Quick: what is 10-11-12? Is it Nov 10, 2012 or Oct 11, 2012 or Nov 12, 2010. I have seen all three in use!

But pig-headed "American exceptionalism" still insists on MM-DD-YY or is it DD-MM-YY? It is both ways in the US (July 4th / 4th July), predominantly the former which is counter to the older European ways, except Europe has mostly joined the 21st century while the US is still mired in ancient date systems and king's-foot measuring systems.

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Highlight:

I don't know how many of you all remember late 1999. [View all] Srkdqltr Oct 22 OP

To be fair LearnedHand Oct 22 #1

They spent over a decade... Whatthe_Firetruck Oct 22 #66

Exactly LearnedHand Oct 22 #72

"Office Space" with Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston Simeon Salus Oct 22 #75

I remember DeepWinter Oct 22 #2

This wysimdnwyg Oct 22 #29

Happy 21st DUnniversary. niyad Oct 22 #51

Thanks! wysimdnwyg Oct 22 #76

Unless you were working for IT for a company slightlv Oct 22 #54

we worked hard in the decade before that... da svenster Oct 22 #64

Oh do I remember..... Karma13612 Oct 22 #3

Not the best comparison Cirsium Oct 22 #4

Well just the extreme hand wringing over Kamala loosing. I think she has a very good chance of winning. Srkdqltr Oct 22 #5

We're talking about voting vs technology LeftInTX Oct 22 #8

You are doubling down now Cirsium Oct 22 #15

Many of the potential Y2K issues were dealt with well ahead of time. TwilightZone Oct 22 #12

Good point Cirsium Oct 22 #21

Hey,ever prep for an extreme hurricane? BattleRow Oct 22 #22

The other WAS a threat kcr Oct 22 #63

Yes Cirsium Oct 22 #84

Went to library conference planning program where the displacedvermoter Oct 22 #6

Why was Y2K more widely believed than... lame54 Oct 22 #11

because alas... da svenster Oct 22 #52

Got news for you. That threat was real. zonemaster Oct 22 #7

It is also a testament that major threats CAN be averted localroger Oct 22 #13

Sounds trivial but libraries all over the world were displacedvermoter Oct 22 #17

same was true of banks... da svenster Oct 22 #53

Agree -- it could most definitely have been disaster in the making. Luckily the worst that ended up happening Jmb 4 Harris-Walz Oct 22 #18

Thanks for the perspective! I was a teenager at the time and didn't Earthrise Oct 22 #19

I spent all New Years Eve at Walmart HQ to be sure all of sinkingfeeling Oct 22 #9

The catapult of disinformation is unyielding. Duncan Grant Oct 22 #10

Yep. Water, stock up on basics, and get cash. No one I knew believed Earthrise Oct 22 #14

It was a cold fart. nt miyazaki Oct 22 #16

Yep that was ridiculous, the stock market would crash, doc03 Oct 22 #20

Nothing happened because IT programmers spent the last sinkingfeeling Oct 22 #86

I remember President Clinton made it a priority. I worked in a steel mill at the time, they hired extra people doc03 Oct 22 #88

My best memory of 1999 ToxMarz Oct 22 #23

We spent 15 years hearing about the concept of partying like it was 1999 Xavier Breath Oct 22 #78

Yes I do remember ampm Oct 22 #24

There is little glory in preventing a disaster Orangepeel Oct 22 #25

I like that. Collimator Oct 22 #36

We are, as we did then, kozar Oct 22 #26

I loved 1999-2000 duncang Oct 22 #27

it was all a part of the tech et tu Oct 22 #28

The Danger WAS REAL! Jamison59 Oct 22 #30

Thank you! The OP fails to understand WHY nothing of consequence happened! markpkessinger Oct 22 #58

Y2K wasn't a catastrophe because people worked through the issues and fixed them. paulkienitz Oct 22 #31

The hospital lab I worked at canceled all vacations hoosierspud Oct 22 #32

The US Space Forces still haven't caught up.... Mustellus Oct 22 #33

I remember working a lot of overtime so people wouldn't be affected by the problem 0rganism Oct 22 #34

There were a tremendous amount of people working to update software to prevent that problem IronLionZion Oct 22 #35

The success of our Y2K response further highlights the failure of our climate change response 0rganism Oct 22 #37

Sure, or the efforts to save the Ozone layer IronLionZion Oct 22 #50

Well said! LearnedHand Oct 22 #73

We are dealing people and voting, not LeftInTX Oct 22 #83

Ahem. It wasn't the programmers who didn't think. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 22 #38

the issue in the early days was how expensive storage was da svenster Oct 22 #57

Thank you. Your post, and the immediately following response answered niyad Oct 22 #80

I still have cans of freeze-dried food. I also remember this Seattle WTO late 1999. spike jones Oct 22 #39

Please don't forget all the programmers that made that happen. Susan Calvin Oct 22 #40

We actually did lose power for most of the day on Jan 1. Mariana Oct 22 #41

Y2K ? PhilG Oct 22 #42

I distinctly remember a documentary called The Unsung Heroes of Y2K. Susan Calvin Oct 22 #45

it drives me NUTS when people act like nothing happened by fate Skittles Oct 22 #48

Welcome to our DU family. niyad Oct 22 #82

I thought Figarosmom Oct 22 #43

All too well, quite frankly. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 22 #44

the reason DMV didn't have an issue da svenster Oct 22 #61

That the media are too stupid to have reported this intelligently LearnedHand Oct 22 #74

I was working as a bank teller on the last workday of 1999. Aristus Oct 22 #46

funny switch... da svenster Oct 22 #62

let me tell you something Skittles Oct 22 #47

Ah, yes, the great Y2K hoax. I had a mac at the time, and left it on from niyad Oct 22 #49

Was your mac running COBOL? Ptah Oct 22 #55

I don't remember, although that sounds vaguely familar. Actually, I don't niyad Oct 22 #56

You said, "some scum made millions." Ptah Oct 22 #59

You misunderstand me. I was referring to the charlatans, gurus, snake-oil niyad Oct 22 #79

iOS (or iPadOS) if you have an iPad, or android if it's just about anything else da svenster Oct 22 #65

I do not have an ipad, and I do have that little martian creature whenever niyad Oct 22 #81

it wasn't a HOAX per se Skittles Oct 22 #60

dates were handled differently... da svenster Oct 22 #67

Wow. Talk about taking learning the wrong lesson from history! n/t markpkessinger Oct 22 #68

as the great sage donald roeser once wrote... da svenster Oct 22 #69

The point i wanted to make was, and many made it here, there was a huge effort going to make sure things went as smoothl Srkdqltr Oct 22 #70

My dad did his 1997 through 1999 Navy reserve duties haele Oct 22 #71

Yes, Art Bell stuff. Sneederbunk Oct 22 #77

Hubby is IT for small companies Maeve Oct 22 #85

Well, this is bringing out all the programmers and sysadmins. usonian Oct 22 #87