General Discussion

Srkdqltr

(8,138 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2024, 01:38 PM Oct 2024

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

Remember how many were on the news and talk shows saying that when the time changed to the year 2000 cars with computers and planes would stop. Water and power would shut off because computer programmers didn't think to program for the year 2000?
Remember how they were never heard from again. And how stupid we felt when we found we didn't need to fill the bathtub with water or take extra money out of the ATM?
Remember that?
Hopefully we will feel that again after the vote.

88 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

I don't know how many of you all remember late 1999. [View all] Srkdqltr Oct 2024 OP

To be fair LearnedHand Oct 2024 #1

They spent over a decade... Whatthe_Firetruck Oct 2024 #66

Exactly LearnedHand Oct 2024 #72

"Office Space" with Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston Simeon Salus Oct 2024 #75

I remember DeepWinter Oct 2024 #2

This wysimdnwyg Oct 2024 #29

Happy 21st DUnniversary. niyad Oct 2024 #51

Thanks! wysimdnwyg Oct 2024 #76

Unless you were working for IT for a company slightlv Oct 2024 #54

we worked hard in the decade before that... da svenster Oct 2024 #64

Oh do I remember..... Karma13612 Oct 2024 #3

Not the best comparison Cirsium Oct 2024 #4

Well just the extreme hand wringing over Kamala loosing. I think she has a very good chance of winning. Srkdqltr Oct 2024 #5

We're talking about voting vs technology LeftInTX Oct 2024 #8

You are doubling down now Cirsium Oct 2024 #15

Many of the potential Y2K issues were dealt with well ahead of time. TwilightZone Oct 2024 #12

Good point Cirsium Oct 2024 #21

Hey,ever prep for an extreme hurricane? BattleRow Oct 2024 #22

The other WAS a threat kcr Oct 2024 #63

Yes Cirsium Oct 2024 #84

Went to library conference planning program where the displacedvermoter Oct 2024 #6

Why was Y2K more widely believed than... lame54 Oct 2024 #11

because alas... da svenster Oct 2024 #52

Got news for you. That threat was real. zonemaster Oct 2024 #7

It is also a testament that major threats CAN be averted localroger Oct 2024 #13

Sounds trivial but libraries all over the world were displacedvermoter Oct 2024 #17

same was true of banks... da svenster Oct 2024 #53

Agree -- it could most definitely have been disaster in the making. Luckily the worst that ended up happening Jmb 4 Harris-Walz Oct 2024 #18

Thanks for the perspective! I was a teenager at the time and didn't Earthrise Oct 2024 #19

I spent all New Years Eve at Walmart HQ to be sure all of sinkingfeeling Oct 2024 #9

The catapult of disinformation is unyielding. Duncan Grant Oct 2024 #10

Yep. Water, stock up on basics, and get cash. No one I knew believed Earthrise Oct 2024 #14

It was a cold fart. nt miyazaki Oct 2024 #16

Yep that was ridiculous, the stock market would crash, doc03 Oct 2024 #20

Nothing happened because IT programmers spent the last sinkingfeeling Oct 2024 #86

I remember President Clinton made it a priority. I worked in a steel mill at the time, they hired extra people doc03 Oct 2024 #88

My best memory of 1999 ToxMarz Oct 2024 #23

We spent 15 years hearing about the concept of partying like it was 1999 Xavier Breath Oct 2024 #78

Yes I do remember ampm Oct 2024 #24

There is little glory in preventing a disaster Orangepeel Oct 2024 #25

I like that. Collimator Oct 2024 #36

We are, as we did then, kozar Oct 2024 #26

I loved 1999-2000 duncang Oct 2024 #27

it was all a part of the tech et tu Oct 2024 #28

The Danger WAS REAL! Jamison59 Oct 2024 #30

Thank you! The OP fails to understand WHY nothing of consequence happened! markpkessinger Oct 2024 #58

Y2K wasn't a catastrophe because people worked through the issues and fixed them. paulkienitz Oct 2024 #31

The hospital lab I worked at canceled all vacations hoosierspud Oct 2024 #32

The US Space Forces still haven't caught up.... Mustellus Oct 2024 #33

I remember working a lot of overtime so people wouldn't be affected by the problem 0rganism Oct 2024 #34

There were a tremendous amount of people working to update software to prevent that problem IronLionZion Oct 2024 #35

The success of our Y2K response further highlights the failure of our climate change response 0rganism Oct 2024 #37

Sure, or the efforts to save the Ozone layer IronLionZion Oct 2024 #50

Well said! LearnedHand Oct 2024 #73

We are dealing people and voting, not LeftInTX Oct 2024 #83

Ahem. It wasn't the programmers who didn't think. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 2024 #38

the issue in the early days was how expensive storage was da svenster Oct 2024 #57

Thank you. Your post, and the immediately following response answered niyad Oct 2024 #80

I still have cans of freeze-dried food. I also remember this Seattle WTO late 1999. spike jones Oct 2024 #39

Please don't forget all the programmers that made that happen. Susan Calvin Oct 2024 #40

We actually did lose power for most of the day on Jan 1. Mariana Oct 2024 #41

Y2K ? PhilG Oct 2024 #42

I distinctly remember a documentary called The Unsung Heroes of Y2K. Susan Calvin Oct 2024 #45

it drives me NUTS when people act like nothing happened by fate Skittles Oct 2024 #48

Welcome to our DU family. niyad Oct 2024 #82

I thought Figarosmom Oct 2024 #43

All too well, quite frankly. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2024 #44

the reason DMV didn't have an issue da svenster Oct 2024 #61

That the media are too stupid to have reported this intelligently LearnedHand Oct 2024 #74

I was working as a bank teller on the last workday of 1999. Aristus Oct 2024 #46

funny switch... da svenster Oct 2024 #62

let me tell you something Skittles Oct 2024 #47

Ah, yes, the great Y2K hoax. I had a mac at the time, and left it on from niyad Oct 2024 #49

Was your mac running COBOL? Ptah Oct 2024 #55

I don't remember, although that sounds vaguely familar. Actually, I don't niyad Oct 2024 #56

You said, "some scum made millions." Ptah Oct 2024 #59

You misunderstand me. I was referring to the charlatans, gurus, snake-oil niyad Oct 2024 #79

iOS (or iPadOS) if you have an iPad, or android if it's just about anything else da svenster Oct 2024 #65

I do not have an ipad, and I do have that little martian creature whenever niyad Oct 2024 #81

it wasn't a HOAX per se Skittles Oct 2024 #60

dates were handled differently... da svenster Oct 2024 #67

Wow. Talk about taking learning the wrong lesson from history! n/t markpkessinger Oct 2024 #68

as the great sage donald roeser once wrote... da svenster Oct 2024 #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 2024 #70

My dad did his 1997 through 1999 Navy reserve duties haele Oct 2024 #71

Yes, Art Bell stuff. Sneederbunk Oct 2024 #77

Hubby is IT for small companies Maeve Oct 2024 #85

Well, this is bringing out all the programmers and sysadmins. usonian Oct 2024 #87