I was born in 2000. I’ve always heard that Y2K was just dramatics and paranoia, but I’ve also read that it was justified and it was handled by endless hours of fixing the programming. So, which is it? Was it people being paranoid for no reason, or was there some justification for their paranoia? Would the world really have collapsed if they didn’t fix it?
In: Technology
I worked at a couple of different industrial facilities leading up to 2000. Starting 1997-1998 companies started thinking about it. All through 1999 consultants were going out looking at equipment. The thing that made people think it was overblown were people like me that worked at places that were build in the 50s and 60s and did not have computer systems. Things were run by relays. Before PLCs you would have a drum with bumps on it that would open and close microswitches. It was all electromechanical. Timers were what are called agastats, they had air in them that leaked past a diaphragm to activate when the time ran out. None of it was remotely affected by Y2K but people made a lot of money going around sticking Y2K compliant stickers on everything.
I am a consultant now, and I will see those stickers every once in a while at old plants.
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