Y2K – Tempest in a Computer Code
[December 2025] A whole generation has grown up that never experienced Y2K, an abbreviation for the Year 2000. We give commands to our computers to do things at a certain time, and track everything from email to transmitter events in accurate time (assuming we set systems for the right time zone). But, even as we were celebrating like it was 1999, the clock was ticking.
It was 26 years ago when the world seemed to collectively hold its breath as the calendar turned from the 1900s to 2000.
The cause of the anxiety? Computers and programs designed in the 1970s and 1980s had not given any thought as to what to do when the digits changed to 2000 and above. Given the tight limits of RAM in those days (some early computers had no more than 4k of RAM, so programs were careful not to waste any bytes), years were usually expressed by two digits, so, after 1999, it seemed the next year might be 1900.
When it became known that many programmers were concerned that key software would crash or – like the man who rented a movie video in upstate New York, and was told he returned it 100 years late, with a fine of $91,250 – turn all sorts of monetary and other equations on their head, potentially bankrupting companies and interrupting utility services.
A COSTLY ENDEAVOR
As the date approached, many companies put staff to work testing software – even advancing the date in the system to see what happened – and preparing for any problems that might emerge on the day.
One estimate was that as much as $600 billion was spent in trying to ensure the worst did not happen.
A LOT OF TENSON, NOT SO MUCH TROUBLE
In broadcast circles, a lot of stations brought regular and extra staff in to be on hand at midnight, lest the automation computers shut down and create a lot of dead air.
Despite the preparations, news reports of the day constantly reminded people not to depend upon anything connected to computers, from alarm clocks to defense radar – the US Department of Defense set up a special command center – and everything in between.
As the hour approached in time zone after time zone, a lot of breaths were being held. The message was essentially more than a bit over-the-top – in effect: “The End Is Nigh!”.
And, at midnight, mostly, nothing happened.
THROWBACK TO LESS COMPLICATED TIMES
A few folks took the opportunity to have a little fun – even advertising special prices for a special date.
In Cincinnati, Paul Jellison was not worried about computer crashes or such things. But he did mark the occasion with something unusual: he brought the original WLW 50 kW Western Electric Model 7A transmitter on line, on air, and the 71-year-old-transmitter ran happily into the night.
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
As it turned out, the dire predictions were off the mark. Life went on.
It should not be said that it was all a waste. A lot of programming time and talent went into updating code and making the “year” a four-digit data point. Confusion was reduced and, for the most part, the average citizen did not notice anything special. On the other hand, Y2K did become a cautionary tale for programmers – even as larger and larger sizes of RAM became the norm.
As we look ahead, there are warnings of another potential issue – again concerning dates. If you have an older system on line that depends upon accurate date and time, the date to remember is January 19, 2038. You may have about 12 years to prepare.
Here is the deal: in the older systems, dates are stored with a signed 4-byte, 32-bit integer which counts the seconds since January 1, 1970. When the counter hits 2,147,483.647, it basically causes a data “overflow” and is said to reset the date to December 13, 1901.
But please do not be alarmed!
There is, in most cases, no need to rush out and get a new CPU or run a Windows Update. With 64-bit integer time data, used since Windows NT, all should be OK until the year 2184. Apple claims their Mac OS will be fine until 29,940.
Who knows? By then, AI may well have planned out a whole new system of dating for mankind, perhaps stardates – unless, of course, it has a hallucination. If so, just be ready to check in with the Matrix to ensure HAL will open the pod-bay door! – BDR
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